Family of 18-year-old wrongfully executed for murder in China awarded 2 million yuan

The family of a man wrongly executed for a rape and murder in Inner Mongolia in northern China has been awarded 2.05 million yuan (HK$2.58 million) in compensation.

The Higher People’s Court of Inner Mongolia announced the award in a statement on its social media account on Wednesday.

Huugjilt was executed in 1996 for the rape and murder of a woman in Hohhot. He was 18.

The court in Mongolia ruled earlier in December that he had been wrongly convicted.

The court said the parents had been awarded a high amount for emotional damages because of the death of their son, but had not been given compensation for living expenses as both had pensions.

Huugjilt’s father, Li Sanren, said the compensation was "all right", adding that he and his wife "respect the decision of the law and the state".

"Our main consideration was his vindication," Li told Reuters by telephone. "As for how much we should be compensated, that’s a decision by the state."

Li said he would use the money to find a good cemetery plot for his son.

The statement said the parents had filed for compensation last Thursday and received notice of the award on Wednesday.

The parents “expressed their understanding and agreement” with the compensation deal, the statement said .

Huugjilt was convicted of killing a woman in a public toilet and was executed only 60 days after he discovered the body and reported it to the police.

Another man confessed to the killing in 2005, but the legal authorities only announced that the case would be reopened earlier this year.

The court posthumously cleared Huugjilt on December 15 and apologised to his parents.

“We learned a heartbreaking lesson in this case; we are sorry,” Zhao Jianping, the court’s deputy president, said.