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Compensation charges from dead student family dropped

By Cui Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-27 09:24

The family of the university student who died in a fight involving six plainclothes policemen in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, has withdrawn charges against four of the cops and is seeking up to 370,000 yuan ($54,000) compensation from the remaining two defendants for the death, the family's attorney said Thursday.

Lin Songling's family is dropping charges against the four defendants less than a week after the trial over his death started as no clear evidence was found against them, Hu Fengbin told China Daily.

"Initially the family didn't even consider compensation they don't want to accept money against their only son's life, all they want is that the killers to be brought to justice," Hu said.

The two policemen, Qi Xin and Liu Linan, were charged with intentional injury, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in jail and a maximum penalty of death.

"Based on all the evidence we think it is more appropriate that the two suspects be charged with intentional murder," Hu said. "A life for a life that is what the family wants."

Lin Songling and his friends had an argument with the policemen in front of a nightclub at around 10 pm on Oct 11 last year after the group accused one of the cops of driving dangerously fast on the pavement.

The argument escalated into a fierce fight at a parking lot at the club's rear, leaving Lin dead at the scene and several others from both sides injured.

All six suspects were detained within 12 hours of the killing.

Surveillance footage of Lin hitting a police officer with a brick was shown in court, which raised the suspicion that Lin might have intentionally escalated the fight.

"Lin's violent behavior was definitely wrong but it didn't mean he should be killed by the police officers," Hu said in his defense.

Liu Linan's "sincere apology" during his confession in court reportedly gave the victim's family some relief. According to the Guangzhou Daily, Liu "bowed his head in repentance to Lin's father for his wrongdoing" before he was taken out of the court.

Qi Xin denied all charges and refused to compensate the victim's family, the newspaper reported. The trial on Tuesday lasted more than 12 hours and the court is expected to announce the sentences in a month's time.