A court in Shandong Province said Tuesday it has extended for another three months to review the case of a man who may have been wrongfully found guilty and executed in 1995 for the rape and death of a woman in the capital of Hebei Province in 1994.
"We have received the court's notice, and the case will be reviewed until December 15," Li Shuting, one of Nie Shubin's lawyers, told the Global Times Tuesday.
The Supreme People's Court can extend the review of a particular case from one to three months due to insufficient evidence. Another extension will be applied if more time is required, according to Criminal Procedural Law.
"It is unusual for a case to be extended twice, as the Shandong High People's Court wants to devote more time to review it," Li said. "I believe a retrial will start as soon as possible after the three-month extension, and that the final result will be satisfactory."
In 1995, 21-year-old Nie, a worker in Hebei Province, was executed for raping and murdering a woman in a cornfield in the outskirts of the Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province in 1994.
Ten years later, Wang Shujin, came forward and confessed in 2005 that he raped and killed the woman.
Wang's confession triggered extensive public discussion over whether Nie was wrongfully convicted. In December 2014, the Supreme People's Court asked the Shandong High People's Court to reinvestigate Nie's case.
