China shocked by mass cover up that saw convicted murderer, freed after three months, go on to become a high ranking official
- 84 officials helped man walk free from prison and rise to high office after stabbing a boy to death
- The victim’s mother spent 30 years fighting for justice
Chinese officials who let a convicted murderer walk free just months into a 15-year sentence have been exposed in a web of corruption dating back decades.
Of those 84 – which included eight top-level officials – the region’s Political and Justice Committee said 54 received harsh disciplinary measures while 20 were given lighter sentences and 10 were under police investigation. Another 10 officials had died before the authority concluded the investigation.
During the investigation, authorities found that the prisoner, Batu Menghe, then 18, had been released from prison on parole to seek medical treatment in September 1993.
He had served three months of his 15-year sentence for the stabbing murder of Bai Yongchun in the Mongolian village of Chenbaerhu Banner, where they both lived.
Batu had turned himself in to authorities after the killing.