Death Penalty for Businesswoman Wu Ying Triggers Public Uproar

The death sentence for former businesswoman Wu Ying from Zhejiang Province has triggered widespread public attention.

On January 18th, the Zhejiang Supreme People's Court sentenced Wu Ying to death for "fraudulent fundraising". Within two weeks, the case has developed into a political and legal uproar. Many people say she’s being punished harshly because during her trial, she implicated Chinese officials in loan-sharking activities.

The presiding judge said on Tuesday that Wu Ying was being punished only for committing financial fraud. He wrote in a statement that, "Wu Ying's reporting of implicated officials is deemed a crime confession, not an act of merit."

But Shanghai-based lawyer Li Tiantian says Wu Ying did not violate the law because her fundraising activities were not actually illegal - and regardless, a death penalty is too severe.

[Li Tiantian, Lawyer]:
"It goes against the basic purpose of criminal law, which is that the death penalty cannot be used for non-atrocious crimes. Now the general public has found a problem with it… [because] very few officials face execution even though their corruption involves more than tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of Chinese yuan."

The case has sparked a flood of reactions from Chinese of all walks of life.

Scholars from various top universities and well-known lawyers have sent letters to the Supreme Court asking to spare Wu Ying's life.

The microblog "Public Opinions Summary of Wu Ying's Case" is getting frequent updated comments.

Chinese netizens are debating issues like social justice, financial monopoly, death penalty reform, and a way out for private capital.

Tie Liu, a writer and entrepreneur, writes that if Wu Ying were able to borrow over a hundred million US dollars, she might have had to give millions to corrupt Chinese officials. Liu also questioned why local officials wrote letters seeking Wu Ying’s death - wondering if they are trying to hide their crimes.

This is the first death penalty case that has received such widespread public anger - setting a new precedent in China.