Chen Man is seen in court.

Yi Yanyou, another lawyer in the case, also hailed the outcome.

Also on Monday, 27 officials, including police officers, prosecutors and judges, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region were penalized over the wrongful conviction and execution of a man for rape and murder when he was 18 in 1996.

Feng Zhiming, who was in charge of the case against Hugjiltu at the time, is suspected of job-related crimes and has been placed under further investigation.

The other 26 officials received punishments such as admonishments and demerits on their records, according to a statement.

Yuan Ningning, a legal researcher at Beijing Normal University, said that exposing those who made mistakes in the case carries "symbolic meaning", but he suggested that new rules should be drawn up on court procedures and punishments.

Yuan said it was the first time in China that penalties had been disclosed for judicial officials whose improper behavior resulted in a wrongful verdict.

"But I think different people should be given different punishments in line with their mistakes," Yuan added.