Pena de muerte en China: capitalismo y ddhh

Sentenciada a muerte por fraude, la joven empresaria y multimillonaria Wu Ying tendra una última oportunidad de salvar su vida. El debate en China es no solo sobre la pena de muerte, sino tambien hasta donde se arriesgará en sus negocios la nueva clase capitalista que tanto necesita el regimen comunista.

It was a fraud trial involving a huge sum of money - and the verdict triggered a national outcry and a rare promise from China's top court.

In 2009, at the age of 28, multi-millionaire Wu Ying was sentenced to death for illegal fundraising.

Last week, however, the Supreme Court of China stated publicly that her sentence would be reviewed "cautiously".

The discussion that erupted online over Ms Wu concerns not only her fate, but the future of China's legal and financial systems.

'Fraudulent fundraising'
Born in 1981, Wu Ying was raised in a rural area in Dongyang in eastern Zhejiang province. To the west is the city of Yiwu, famous for its international trade of small merchandise.

Before she had completed her technical school training, Wu Ying decided to abandon her studies to work in one of her relative's beauty salons. She went on to open a shop of her own.
From there her business empire expanded - and expanded. She formed Bense Group, running hotels, wedding planners, laundry shops, a logistics company and many other investments.

Then in 2007 Wu Ying was arrested by the police. According to reports, about 100 apartments that she owned were confiscated, together with dozens of luxury cars and her businesses.

She was initially charged with "illegally absorbing deposits from the public", but charges later escalated to financial fraud - and more specifically - fraudulent fundraising.

The indictment said she had raised 770m yuan ($122m; £79m) fraudulently from 11 people, with unreasonably high interest rates promised.

Wu Ying's case has been controversial since her arrest, but the High Court of Zhejiang's decision to uphold her death sentence has seen the debate renewed in the media and online.

One of the microbloggers' accusations is that the courts are applying double standards.

The same day the verdict in Wu's appeal was handed down, a court in Hebei sentenced Sun Lipeng - another businessman - to 20 years in prison for illegally raising 3.3bn yuan ($527m; £342m), according to Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily.

Informal financing
From legal professionals to the general public, many people have said they do not think Wu Ying is guilty - because they regard what she has done as no more than informal financing - private lending that does not involve banks.

"We do not believe this is a crime, since she did not raise funds from the general public," said Wu Ying's defence lawyer, Zhang Yanfeng.

"She has neither fabricated nor concealed any facts," Mr Zhang told the BBC in an interview after the Supreme Court's statement. "She was lacking liquidity and she borrowed money."