Police came for Lin Ruiqiang at noon. Home for lunch in his family's shabby courtyard in the farming suburbs of Jieyang in Guangdong , the 18-year-old jade carver went to answer a banging on the door. As police dragged him away, he shouted, 'Tell mum and dad what's happening,' said his uncle Lin Sanshu, who witnessed the arrest together with neighbours.
Eleven years later, Lin Ruiqiang is still on death row in Jieyang Jail, sentenced for a murder he, his family, lawyers and neighbours say he did not commit. Also sentenced to die for killing local farmer Yang Mingrui was 18-year-old bus ticket seller, Lin Zhiqiang , a friend of Lin Ruiqiang's. The men are not related. Lin Zhiqiang also said he was innocent.
Both men said their confessions were extracted after prolonged torture by police and court officials. The victim's wife, Lin Ruifang , who's not related to the men - said police evidence against the men contained major errors. 'I just want the police to find the real killers,' Ms Lin said, tears streaming down her face.
'I know my son is innocent,' said Lin Ruiqiang's mother, Lin Li. 'He is my son and I raised him from a boy. I am absolutely sure he didn't do this. If he had, I would not be trying to get him out.'
Confronted with what critics allege are systematic, massive miscarriages of justice, two criminal defence lawyers have begun a renewed fight to secure the release of several hundred men and women they say are in jail on the mainland facing wrongful execution.
The lawyers, Li Fangping and Li Heping (no relation), aided by colleagues, are focusing on three cases, all undergoing appeal: the Lins in Jieyang; two murders in 1999 in Leping, Jiangxi , for which four farmers are on death row; and a third case in Chengde , Hebei , dating to 1994, when four men were sentenced to death for killing two taxi drivers.