Wrongfully convicted professor receives 414,000 yuan from court

A court in Guangdong province has decided to pay a professor wrongfully convicted of corruption about 414,000 yuan ($58,300) in compensation.

Lou Gaoming, who specializes in veterinary medicine at Shaoguan University in the province, obtained the compensation decision document from the Shaoguan Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday.

The compensation includes 307,000 yuan for Lou's wrongful detention of 972 days and 107,000 yuan for his mental anguish, according to the court.

The court also agreed to give a public apology to Lou to help him regain his reputation and remove the negative effects caused by the judgment.

"My suffering will be worthwhile if the case can help the country promote justice, optimize the academic environment and protect the legitimate rights of scientists," said Lou, 52.

In 2003, Lou, who then worked for the Institute of Animal Health with Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, was invited by the Shaoguan government to teach and develop scientific research at the Shaoguan University. He went on to win the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2005.

In January 2009, he was named head of the university's animal disease research institute.

On July 24, 2015, Lou was criminally detained for alleged corruption and bribery, and a year later, he was charged with the crime of corruption by prosecutors in Shaoguan city.

In January 2017, the intermediate court sentenced him to six years in prison for corruption, saying he made use of his work post at the institute to obtain about 1.18 million yuan of public funds, including money used for vaccine and tests, from 2008 to 2014.

Lou appealed to a higher court, explaining the money came from consultant fees from his part-time job.

In December 2017, the Guangdong High People's Court withdrew the judgment for insufficient evidence and sent the case back to the lower court for retrial.

When the intermediate court decided to retry the case with another panel in January 2018, prosecutors suggested the court postpone the hearing. Two months later, Lou was released on bail.

In June, prosecutors dropped the charges against Lou, saying the evidence was not enough to prove corruption.

Although Lou returned to his teaching post after being released on bail last year, "we still had mixed feelings on Wednesday when receiving the compensation decision document from the court," said Lou's wife, surnamed Liao.

During the period of Lou's wrongful detention, Liao was not allowed to meet him, "but I always believed he was innocent and was confident that justice would stand on his side."

She told China Daily on Thursday that her husband has had difficulty applying for major scientific projects "because his studies were stopped for his long-term wrongful detention, and a big project needs sustainable study."

Besides teaching, Lou is using his knowledge to help pig breeders, "and he also wants to make contributions to help the country solve the African swine fever problem," she added.

Wang Zhenyu, Lou's lawyer, said the country's judicial authorities need to improve and called on them to strictly review evidence in handling cases to prevent such wrongful convictions in the future.