A man who spent more than seven years in police custody in northeast China's Jilin Province was acquitted of murder and freed on Friday, in a move timed to coincide with the country's second Constitution Day.
Yong Kuikui, a 35-year-old from Siping City, was arrested in March 2008 for murdering a fruit vendor found dead at her store in Tonghua City in January of that year.
Scattered oranges indicated a struggle had taken place, and police found Yong had argued with the woman on the day of her death. His fingerprints were found on a plastic bag filled with oranges near the store.
The Tonghua City Intermediate People's court initially sentenced Yong to death before downgrading it to a suspended death sentence.
The Jilin Provincial Higher People's Court had twice remanded the case back for retrial and eventually acquitted the suspect on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
The court ruled Yong's testimony inadmissable, saying he may have been forced to confess after interrogation footage showed he had suffered facial injuries.
China is overhauling its legal system to guarantee citizens' rights.
In June, the government released a white paper claiming improved judicial justice and transparency. Courts nationwide re-heard 1,317 cases and corrected a number of wrongful convictions in 2014.
One high-profile wrongful conviction was of an 18-year-old Inner Mongolian executed for a rape-murder in 1996. In December 2014, he was posthumously acquitted, and his parents received state compensation of more than 2 million yuan (327,060 U.S. dollars).
Yong Kuikui's acquittal is a result of China implementing the principle of "no punishment in doubtful cases," said Yu Xiaoguang, director of the Law Institute of the Jilin Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.
Fair trials could avoid wrongful arrests and executions, Yu said.
"Though the murder case was still pending, the court acquitted the suspect according to law, suggesting progress in judicial reform," said Wu Jingbo, defence counsel in the case.
In addition to the acquittal, nationwide activities were held on Friday to mark Constitution Day, introduced by China's top legislature in 2014 to help promote the rule of law.
The Jilin Provincial Higher People's Court and all courts in the eastern port city of Qingdao opened to the public.
Schools in northwest China's Qinghai Province organized mock trials for students, and hospitals in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality offered free physical examinations amid a campaign dissuading locals from using unlicensed medical centers.
Meanwhile, 1,000 new government officials in Kunming City, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, pledged allegiance to the Constitution before taking office.
