Six lawyers are preparing to file an appeal on behalf of the family of a high-profile executed criminal to the Hebei Provincial High People's Court, in the belief he is a victim of a miscarriage of justice. 

Lawyers said they will ask the court to reveal all the results  from a probe into Nie Shubin's conviction for murder and rape as the first step to an appeal for exoneration.

Nie, 21, was executed in 1995 for raping and murdering a woman in the provincial capital Shijiazhuang in 1994. But then Wang Shujin, convicted of raping and murdering three women in 1994 and 1995, confessed in 2005 that he raped and killed the victim in Nie's case.  

Li Jingxing, a lawyer who started to represent Nie's father from Monday, said that viewing the probe results, including Nie's testimony, is the only way for them to assuage doubts about the evidence.

"It's been a long time since Nie was executed and it's hard for us to discover other evidence," Li said, adding that this will help ensure the transparency of any new hearing. 

Yang Xuelin, who is representing Nie's sister, said that so far, the court is not planning to rehear the case.

Zhang Huanzhi, Nie's mother, told the Beijing News that she hopes the lawyers can help clear her son's name.