China extends deadline of high-profile rape,murder case review

A higher people's court in China's eastern Shandong Province has extended the deadline of a rape and murder case review in which a young man was falsely executed 20 years ago.
The review of Nie Shubin's case is now scheduled to end on September 15, three months later than the previous deadline, due to the "significance, difficulty and complexity" of the case, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.
Zhu Yunsan, presiding judge of the review panel, announced the decision, which was approved by the Supreme People's Court, to Nie's family and their two lawyers.
Nie, a native of Hebei Province which neighbours Shandong, was 21 when he was convicted and executed for the rape and murder of a woman in Hebei's capital, Shijiazhuang.

However in 2005, Wang Shujin said he was responsible for the crime.
In December last year, five judges from the provincial higher court began reviewing the case. Nie's family lawyers were allowed to read the case files.

The case is similar to a 1996 case from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where a teenager named Huugjilt was executed for the rape and murder of a woman in June 1996.
A self-confessed serial rapist and killer later admitted to the crime while in police custody in 2005.
In December last year, Huugjilt was acquitted by the regional higher people's court. His parents were awarded state compensation of more than 2 million yuan (USD 3.