Zhao, a paraplegic man from Jilin, was sentenced to serve his sentence in Siping Prison on January 15, 2009 for robbery and attempted murder. He tested positive for HIV antibodies in prison in June 2011. Zhao and his family believed that the prison management had problems that led to his infection, and filed an administrative compensation lawsuit. The Compensation Committee of the Jilin Provincial High Court and the Compensation Committee of the Supreme People’s Court both determined that Zhao was infected with HIV while serving his sentence in Siping Prison, and that Siping Prison had faulty supervision and should be held responsible for compensation.Zhao’s family said that Zhao was released from prison in early March and they were worried about his follow-up treatment and care. The Jilin Provincial Prison Administration Bureau confirmed that Zhao would be released from prison and was carrying out resettlement work, such as applying for minimum living allowance and contacting the Disabled Persons’ Federation. Zhao’s family said that after Zhao tested positive for HIV in prison, they filed an administrative lawsuit against Siping Prison and demanded state compensation of about 8 million yuan.On January 24, 2019, the Compensation Committee of the Jilin Provincial High Court revoked the previous relevant compensation decision, ordered Siping Prison to pay Zhao 100,000 yuan in mental damages, and rejected other compensation requests. On October 14 of the same year, the Supreme Court Compensation Committee rejected Siping Prison’s appeal and upheld the Jilin Provincial High Court’s decision on state compensation for Zhao’s HIV infection in Siping Prison. Zhao’s family said that Zhao planned to apply for state compensation again after he was released from prison.Zhao was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2008 for robbery and attempted murder, and was transferred to Siping Prison in January 2009. He was paralyzed in 2001 due to a fall from a building and needed long-term treatment in the prison hospital. Medical records show that Zhao’s first HIV antibody screening was negative on September 10, 2008; the reexamination before surgery for bladder stones on June 18, 2009 was still negative; the third test result on June 30, 2010 when treating a foot infection was still negative. In addition, his CD4+T lymphocyte count remained normal before 2011.The key point of infection occurred in May 2011. Zhao was sent to the Central Hospital of Jilin Provincial Prison Administration Bureau for swallowing a metal foreign body. Preoperative screening showed that HIV antibodies were “pending review”. Confirmed by the Jilin Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, his HIV antibody test turned positive on June 10, 2011, and his CD4 value dropped to 525. After that, six tests from 2014 to 2018 showed that the CD4 value fluctuated between 481 and 592, which is consistent with the characteristics of the latent period of AIDS.According to the court’s investigation, Zhao Mouwei, an inmate who was receiving treatment in the prison hospital during the same period, was a known HIV carrier (diagnosed in 2004). Medical records confirmed that Zhao Mouwei had fever and rash symptoms in November 2010, and had entered Zhao Mou’s ward to help him go to the toilet and had daily contact with him. According to the Ministry of Health’s “Diagnostic Criteria for AIDS and HIV Infection”, combined with the fact that the intervals between three negative tests exceeded the window period (14-21 days), the Supreme Court determined that Zhao Mou’s infection occurred during his sentence from June 2009 to June 2011.The compensation decision detailed that Zhao’s feet had ulcers and the wounds continued to ooze fluid; Zhao’s rash symptoms may increase the viral load, and the skin barrier was damaged during contact, which made transmission possible. The Jilin Provincial High People’s Court held that the root cause of Zhao’s infection with HIV was transmission by others, and the main responsibility lies with the transmitter. Siping Prison failed to perform its supervisory duties, which had a certain causal relationship with Zhao’s infection with HIV.
