Inside China Today

Yang Jia’s appeal opens in Shanghai

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/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The highly anticipated appeal of Beijing resident Yang Jia who stabbed six Shanghai police to death, opened at Shanghai’s Higher People’s Court, with judge Hsu Wei presiding, the Epochtimes reports. The head defence lawyer is Zhai Jian from Shanghai’s Zhai Jian Law Firm was appointed to defend Yang Jia’s. The appeal is expected to take one day.

Attorney Zhai told Voice of America during an interview that he has met with Yang Jia three times after he became Yang’s appeal attorney and has closely gone over all relevant materials. Zhai says they will need an argument to change the result of the trial. From the materials he has seen and was given, that China has not yet abolished the death penalty. Yang’s death sentence is unlikely to change if the findings of the trial are upheld. Zhai Jian did raise the question of Yang Jia’s mental state.

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –According to sources, the trial was requested by Yang who wrote in an application on September 10 that the grounds for appeal are that the trial did not call Shue Yiao, Chen Yingqiao and Wu Yuhua as witnesses as requested by Yang Jia. The death of the victims are accentual and not a result of pre-meditated killing. The investigation by Shanghai police in 2007 were wrongfully carried out and he is innocent.