1. Yang Jia was a Chinese citizen executed for murdering six Shanghai police officers with a knife.
15 Facts About Yang Jia
1. 2.
Yang Jia then sued the police for maltreatment, to no avail.
3.
Yang Jia then stabbed security guard Gu Jianming, who tried to stop Yang, with a knife.
4.
Subsequently, Yang Jia charged into the building and randomly stabbed nine unarmed police officers, four in the lobby and duty room and five more while making his way up to the 21st floor, before police managed to subdue him.
5.
Besides the knife and molotov cocktails, Yang Jia carried with him a hammer, a dust mask and tear gas spray.
6.
Yang Jia's trial was delayed on account of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
7.
On 27 August 2008, Yang Jia was tried behind closed doors in a one-hour trial at the Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court.
8.
The death verdict against Yang Jia was confirmed in an appeal trial, conducted behind closed doors, on 20 October 2008.
9.
The appeals court concluded that Yang Jia was of sound mind.
10.
Yang Jia was executed by lethal injection on 26 November 2008.
11.
Yang Jia initially benefited from unusually sympathetic coverage in the state-controlled Chinese press.
12.
The Beijing News pointed out that Yang Jia's appointed lawyer, Xie Youming, might have had a conflict of interest as he is a legal adviser for the city district that oversees the police station at issue.
13.
Southern Weekend published a long, sympathetic front-page story, while other Chinese papers hinted that Yang Jia was wronged and demanded a fair trial.
14.
On 13 October 2008, a public protest in support of Yang Jia occurred outside the Shanghai court in which Yang Jia's appeal was heard.
15.
Yang Jia's case included serious irregularities at trial, and the appellate court deprived him of an opportunity to be examined for mental illness despite a request by Yang Jia's new attorney to allow it.