A Beijing billboard urges an end to domestic violence. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
By Simon Denyer April 24
BEIJING — A Chinese woman who killed her abusive husband won a reprieve from a death sentence Friday in a landmark case that underscores the country’s gradual recognition of domestic violence.
Li Yan was originally sentenced to death in 2011 for killing her husband, but after a long legal battle she was granted a two-year ­reprieve Friday. Unless she commits a crime in that period, her sentence will be commuted to life with possibility of parole.
The reprieve appeared to have been granted under new guidelines issued by judicial authorities in March that recommend leniency for victims of domestic abuse. It also comes as China considers a new law against domestic violence.
“The decision appears to be a positive sign that domestic violence is finally considered a mitigating factor in sentencing of domestic violence victims who have turned against their abusers,” said Maya Wang, a China researcher with Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong.
But the sentence was still much harsher than Li’s lawyers and supporters had expected.
Li, 44, killed her husband, Tan Yong, in 2010 with the butt of an air rifle, allegedly after he threatened to shoot her with it. She then dismembered his body.
The initial death sentence failed to take into account the fact that Li’s husband had repeatedly beaten her during their 18-month marriage, stubbed out cigarettes on her face and chopped off part of one of her fingers. That verdict helped prompt a national debate on domestic violence and pave the way for the proposed new law.
Li’s lawyer, Wan Miaoyan, said the judges had taken into account some — but not all — of the violence her client had suffered, and had acknowledged that her husband was “partially at fault” for his own death. But the judges also ruled that Li’s acts were “brutal,” “serious” and constituted murder.
Wan said she thought a term of 12 years would have been more appropriate. Women’s rights advocate Feng Yuan also said she was disappointed with the sentence, which she called “too heavy.”
Tan’s family had campaigned for the death sentence to be upheld. “Tan’s family is apparently quite powerful locally and, in this case, their power may have swayed the outcome of the case,” said Wang, of Human Rights Watch. “Here we are running into the same old problem of lack of judicial independence from political influence, which is a separate issue from domestic violence.”