What’s new: After being exonerated following 27 years of wrongful imprisonment, Zhang Yuhuan has received record-setting compensation of 4.96 million yuan ($739,000).
Following negotiations with the High People’s Court of Jiangxi Province, Zhang was awarded a sum that includes more than 3.39 million yuan for his 9,778-day-long prison stretch and 1.57 million yuan for mental damage.
That breaks the previous record, set by the 4.68 million compensation handed out to Jin Zhehong in 2019 after 23 years of wrongful imprisonment.
The background: Zhang was convicted of intentional homicide in 1995, and exonerated by the Jiangxi High People’s Court in August this year due to “unclear facts and insufficient evidence.” His wrongful imprisonment duration includes the two years of detention he underwent prior to his conviction.
After being freed, Zhang applied for 22.34 million yuan of compensation. He previously said that he cares more about his reputation than the amount of cash he could receive, and that the application was not for his own gain but more for fairness.
Zhang and his family said they are not satisfied with the payout he has been handed, but would accept it. He said he is planning to buy houses for each of his two sons and to use the remainder for his pension.
Contact editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
