Zhang Gaoping: a 10-year travesty of justice

On the night of May 18, 2003, Zhang Gaoping's life took a fateful turn.

Zhang was driving a truck with his nephew when they stopped to give a ride to a 17-year-old girl in eastern Zhejiang province. Within days, they found themselves the prime suspects in the teenager's rape and murder and were detained by provincial police.

So began a decade-long, nightmare journey through the very worst of the mainland's judicial system. Their ordeal only ended when they were released on appeal earlier this year.

Zhang told mainland media in April that he only learned of the murder when the police told him that he and his nephew had raped the girl before choking her to death.

For his first few days in custody, he was allowed neither sleep nor food. The police kept him handcuffed and forced him to do the splits for hours. Once, they filled his mouth with cigarettes, lit them and beat him whenever one burned faster than the others.

Zhang, then 38, and his 27-year-old nephew were charged with raping and murdering the girl. They signed confessions, but they did not match, and were unable to say where or when the girl was killed. The police, meanwhile, became aware of DNA evidence that pointed to another suspect.

Still, the pair were convicted. Zhang was given a death sentence, suspended for two years, while his nephew was jailed for 15 years.