Making a difference

The four successful appeals organized by the Mengyuanzhe Yuanzhu project:

April 20

Liu Zhonglin, 49, who was convicted of homicide in Jilin province more than two decades ago, had his name cleared after an appeals court ruled the evidence used in his trial was insufficient for conviction.

Liu spent more than 25 years in prison.

In 1990, Liu was detained after a woman's body was found in a village in the province.

In 1994, he was convicted and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve at the Intermediate People's Court in Liaoyuan city. The ruling was upheld by the Jilin Provincial High People's Court a year later.

In March 2012, the high court decided to retry the case, but the retrial did not start until April 2016.

Sept 12

Fujian Provincial High People's Court overturned the convictions of five men, including Miao Xinhua, after ruling that the evidence presented at their trial was insufficient for conviction.

In 2004, Miao was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Ningde city for intentionally killing a woman.

His co-defendants received prison terms ranging from three to eight years for helping Miao to dismember the body and destroy the evidence.

In 2006, the court upheld the verdict, but commuted Miao's punishment to a suspended death sentence. The high people's court reheard the case in July last year.

Feb 4, 2016

The convictions of Xu Jinlong and three co-defendants were quashed by Fujian Provincial High People's Court after they had served nearly 22 years for robbery and homicide.

The court ruled that the evidence presented at their trial was insufficient for conviction.

In 1994, the four men were detained after a 66-year-old man was killed in Putian county, Fujian.

In 1995, Putian Intermediate People's Court sentenced three of the defendants to death, including Xu. The fourth was given a suspended death sentence.

In December 2015, the high people's court decided to retry the case after an appeal application was lodged.

May 29, 2015

Chen Xiaying was freed after Fujian Provincial High People's Court overturned his conviction for homicide, citing insufficient evidence. Chen had spent 19 years in prison.

In 1998, he was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy in 1996.

Fujian High People's Court quashed his conviction after rehearing the case on May 11, 2015.