Rule by Law

Following are some excerpts from the December 31st New York Times criminal justice article about China's death penalty and a Gansu migrant worker's case, Wang Binyin.

You can go here for the full article in the New York Times.

For three weeks, the brutal murders Mr. Wang committed after failing to collect unpaid wages were weighed on the Internet and in Chinese newspapers against the brutal treatment he had endured as a migrant worker. Public opinion shouted for mercy; lawyers debated the fairness of his death sentence. Others saw the case as a bloody symptom of the harsh inequities of Chinese life. But then, in late September, the furor disappeared as suddenly as it had begun. Online discussion was censored and news media coverage was almost completely banned. Mr. Wang's final appeal was rushed to court. His father, never notified, learned about the hearing only by accident. His chosen defense lawyer was forbidden from participating.

China executes more people every year than the rest of the world combined. In 2004, Amnesty International documented at least 3,400 executions - out of 3,797 worldwide that year. The government's relentless death penalty machine has long been its harshest tool for maintaining political control and curbing crime and corruption.