They are harrowing pictures that have triggered a debate about the death penalty. Four condemned women laugh and joke with one another, play cards, eat McDonald's and fuss over their hair and make-up in the hours before their execution. Suppressed since they were taken, in 2003, for fear of triggering sympathy for the women, all convicted of drug trafficking, the extraordinary images began circulating online last month, after being featured in a television documentary.
What makes the pictures so evocative is that they capture the genuine camaraderie between the condemned women and the prison officers, and the emotions of the prisoners as they prepare to face the firing squad. One prisoner in particular - the youngest woman, 25-year-old He Xiuling - veers from exaggerated joviality to utter despair, breaking down in tears as the hour of her death draws near.
Minutes after the final images - showing the women being guided away - were taken, each of the four was led to the execution ground and dispatched in the traditional way, with a bullet to the back of the head.
Since the pictures began circulating, an online debate has raged within the mainland, which, according to some estimates, executes up to 5,000 prisoners a year. That would be more than every other country combined, although official statistics are never released.
To put stories to the images, Post Magazine travelled to Wuhan, Hubei province, where the pictures were taken, and tracked down the photographer and records of the women's crimes.
ACCORDING TO court records and interviews conducted in jail, He's journey to death row began when, as a naive young woman from the countryside, she left her family to seek excitement in the city and ended up being sucked into the heroin trade. With no wealth or political connections to save her life, it took just 15 months from the day of her arrest to her execution, which was timed to coincide with a United Nations anti-drugs day and highlight Beijing's efforts against the heroin trade.
The daughter of a small businessman, He grew up in Xiantao, a shabby, backward city of 300,000 people in rural Hubei, two hours' drive from Wuhan and best known for tough gymnasiums that turn children into Olympic-standard athletes.