BEIJING (AP) – At first blush, the plight of former Chinese police official Zhao Liping might not win much sympathy.
When a court sentenced Zhao, who’d wielded enormous power over his fellow citizens, to death for murder and corruption, state media hailed the ruling as evidence of equality before the law. Reports called it a milestone in the country’s crackdown on misbehaving officials.
Yet Zhao’s brother is now questioning the verdict, saying the ex-official was abused in police custody and sentenced in a show trial – raising issues of justice that are rarely aired in politically sensitive, often tightly scripted cases.
“They want to execute my brother based on evidence that is too problematic,” Zhao Yifeng, a history professor at a university in the eastern city of Changchun, told The Associated Press.
Zhao, who had enjoyed broad powers as head of public security in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, was sentenced to death in November for murder, accepting bribes and the possession of firearms. Zhao, who has denied the charges, appealed the sentence. The appeal was rejected by a higher court in Shanxi province in February.