Beijing man Yang Jia, who allegedly murdered six policemen and injured another four in a knife attack in Shanghai two weeks ago, could be suffering "temporary mental disorder," said two lawyers who have offered to defend him.
Beijing-based lawyer Xiong Liesuo said he questioned the objectivity of a Shanghai court's statement released less than a week after the July 1 knife attack. It said Yang was "sober-minded and should therefore be held fully responsible for his behavior."
"Such investigation should normally take about a month before any judgement is made," Xiong said.
Entrusted by Yang's father, Xiong, 40, and colleague Kong Jian arrived in Shanghai early on Tuesday. "We have applied to meet Yang today to clarify more details," Xiong said. "We hope he would accept our assistance."
On Tuesday afternoon, their application was still being processed by the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate, which would authenticate their qualifications and their agreement with Yang's father.
Yang, 28, who allegedly attacked police in Shanghai's Zhabei District, is being prosecuted by the Shanghai procuratorate.
He allegedly stabbed a security guard at the Shanghai police branch in Zhabei and started a fire at its gate, before forcing himself into the building and attacking nine police officers.
Until Tuesday, the four injured, including the security guard and three policemen, were still in hospital. Police said they were in stable condition.
"We'll propose to Shanghai authorities for Yang to be tried outside Zhabei District, and in an open court session, to ensure fairness of the investigation and trial," said Xiong of the Beijing Xiongzhi Law Firm.
He added a death sentence was likely in Yang's case, but said it was still "worth a try." His firm has exempted Yang's family of all charges, knowing that the accused's parents divorced in 1994 and both were too poor to afford the counseling.
Yang was trained as a salesman at a Beijing technical school but was unemployed most of the years. He lived largely on his mother's pension and the approximately 800 yuan a month (114 U.S. dollars) his father gave him.
Even his family and best friends didn't know why he had attacked the police. His father said he never fought with others as a child and a friend said he would always give up his seat to needy people on buses.
Shanghai police authorities said he killed out of revenge for a lengthy interrogation last year, when he was suspected of having stolen a bike. Yang actually rented the bike when he was traveling in Shanghai last October.
The knife attack caused widespread anger in China, though some expressed sympathy for Yang, reportedly an Internet addict and son of ill-humored parents. Some even cooked up stories saying Yang had been tortured by police.
On Monday, Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate formally arrested Jia Xiaoyin, accusing him of slandering police and disrupting social order.
The 22-year-old allegedly fabricated an Internet posting on July 2, saying Yang had revenged the police because he was beaten up and had his genitals permanently injured by police of the Public Security Bureau in Zhabei, the procuratorate said in a brief dispatch.
It didn't say whether Jia was related with Yang.
(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2008)