The reinvestigation into the 'BMW case' has come to an end and the previous court ruling is "appropriate," a joint judicial panel of Heilongjiang Province said.

One peasant was killed and 12 others were injured when a BMW sedan rams into a crowd in Harbin, the capital city of the northeastern province last October.

On December 20, the Harbin Daoli District People's Court ruled that it was a traffic accident caused by Su Xiuwen's negligence. Su is the driver of the sedan and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with a three-year reprieve.

The panel, made up by officials from provincial public security and juridical departments, started the reinvestigation after rumors and doubts emerged over the ruling, northeast.com.cn reports.

The panel examined the entire incident that happened on October 16, 2003 and found that Su's misbehavior in the incident resulted from misjudgement and operational mistakes, instead of ill intent.

The reinvestigation showed that the court ruling was proper in accordance with the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and related laws and regulations, the panel said.

The panel also probed into the widespread allegations about Su and found them groundless.

The allegations said that Su's families tried to menace and bribe some witnesses to hold them back from court. There were also rumors that Su is a relative of a senior provincial official and benefited from the official's influence during the trial. The panel said they found no facts to back up such allegations.

(China Daily March 29, 2004)