Xia Junfeng

Xia Junfeng was a street food seller in China who was convicted of murder in 2009 and executed in 2013.

Junfeng's death sentence was carried out, despite two appeals, after he was convicted of murdering two officials who were trying to stop him from trading

Xia claimed he stabbed the two officials in self-defense after they beat him. The court ruled there was no evidence of self-defense and convicted him of murder. A higher court upheld the lower court's ruling.

A group of 25 human rights lawyers objected, citing uncertainty in the case, and asserting that the Chinese Supreme Court should have intervened. Xia's case was contrasted with that of Gu Kailai, the wife of politician Bo Xilai, who had been imprisoned for corruption. The lawyers issued a joint statement condemning what they said was an unjust execution. The statement was signed by prominent lawyers including Li Fangping, Teng Biao and Jiang Tianyong.

The Supreme Court had promised to carry out a comprehensive review of Xia's case, but there had been no word from the judiciary for 28 months, raising supporters' hopes that Xia's death sentence would be commuted.

Xia 's execution prompted an outcry on China's social media sites, and quickly became the most discussed topic on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter. Social media users noted how the well-connected Gu was spared her life; while a lowly street vender was put to death. Tong Zongjin, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing said: “If Gu Kailai can remain alive after poisoning someone to death then Xia Junfeng shouldn’t be put to death...It might be a flimsy dream to insist that everyone be treated equally before the law, but it’s nonetheless unseemly to turn this ideal into a joke.”

There was sympathetic coverage even from pro-government news media. Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party tabloid, portrayed the case as a tragedy. While the official Xinhua news agency ran a series of paintings by Xia’s young son – including one depicting a child running to embrace his father. A book of the son’s paintings, published to raise funds, sold out its entire 5,000-copy print run.

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Wikipedia