Supreme People's Court official states that 15% of death sentences were rejected upon review

According to a Chinese press report (reported by Reuters here), Huang Ermei (黄尔梅), the president of the Supreme People's Court's criminal chamber, stated that in 2007 - the first year the Supreme People's Court reviewed all death sentences - it rejected 15% of the cases it reviewed. The number of death sentences still remains a secret, it appears, but more and more numbers are coming out. For example, Judge Huang said that in 2007 the number of suspended death sentences (with a two-year reprieve) was for the first time greater than the number of ordinary death sentences.