A migrant worker from Gansu Province convicted of killing four people in Ningxia over back pay disputes has been executed.
Wang Binyu, 27, was executed on 19 October after the Higher People’s Court in Ningxia upheld a lower court decision to sentence him death penalty. He stabbed his manager and three co-workers in Shizuishan in May this year after he went to his manager’s home trying to claim back five months of unpaid wages.
Wang’s case stirred much controversy in China as some critics argued that the young man was driven into committing the crime after trying every other means to claim back the wage arrears. After the Xinhua published an interview with Wang in September, some academics and public commentators had called on the court to impose a lenient sentence on Wang in view of the situations leading up to the murders. But the court rejected this mitigation factor presented in court.
Wang Binyin, the executed man’s brother, and Wang Liding, their father, went to Ningxia on 23 October from their home in Gansu to collect evidence for an appeal, according to the South China Morning Post. But Wang Binyin told the newspaper that the Dawukou District People’s Court, the court which carried out the execution, had closed its doors to them. "There are many holes in the sentencing," Mr Wu told the newspaper. "It was inappropriate to announce the death sentence in the morning and execute Wang at noon."
Wang Binyin said the family was still owed more than 2,000 yuan of his brother's back pay and he would continue to appeal for a "fair" judgment of his brother’s case. The newspaper said the family has hired Beijing-based lawyer Wu Shaozhi to prepare for the complex appeal process and file a civil lawsuit to claim the outstanding wages.
Sources: South China Morning Post (21 October 2005, 25 October 2005), People's Court Daily (20 October 2005)
25 October 2005
Wang Binyu, 27, was executed on 19 October after the Higher People’s Court in Ningxia upheld a lower court decision to sentence him death penalty. He stabbed his manager and three co-workers in Shizuishan in May this year after he went to his manager’s home trying to claim back five months of unpaid wages.
Wang’s case stirred much controversy in China as some critics argued that the young man was driven into committing the crime after trying every other means to claim back the wage arrears. After the Xinhua published an interview with Wang in September, some academics and public commentators had called on the court to impose a lenient sentence on Wang in view of the situations leading up to the murders. But the court rejected this mitigation factor presented in court.
Wang Binyin, the executed man’s brother, and Wang Liding, their father, went to Ningxia on 23 October from their home in Gansu to collect evidence for an appeal, according to the South China Morning Post. But Wang Binyin told the newspaper that the Dawukou District People’s Court, the court which carried out the execution, had closed its doors to them. "There are many holes in the sentencing," Mr Wu told the newspaper. "It was inappropriate to announce the death sentence in the morning and execute Wang at noon."
Wang Binyin said the family was still owed more than 2,000 yuan of his brother's back pay and he would continue to appeal for a "fair" judgment of his brother’s case. The newspaper said the family has hired Beijing-based lawyer Wu Shaozhi to prepare for the complex appeal process and file a civil lawsuit to claim the outstanding wages.
Sources: South China Morning Post (21 October 2005, 25 October 2005), People's Court Daily (20 October 2005)
25 October 2005