As China’s anti-corruption campaign picks up momentum, those charged with rooting out graft are themselves being placed under increasing scrutiny.
On Tuesday, the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee publicized 10 cases of disciplinary or legal violations by police officers, judges and prosecutors.
“This sends a signal: the disciplinary as well as the political and legal systems are not a sanctuary [in China’s anti-corruption campaign],” said Xin Ming, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
The cases include a Supreme People’s Court official suspected of taking bribes of over 2 million yuan (327,493 U.S. dollars) in exchange for intervening with trials; a prosecutor in central China’s Shanxi Province charged with taking bribes and failing to explain the sources of assets worth over 40 million yuan and 1.8 kg of gold; and a Ministry of Public Security director suspected of taking advantage of his position to benefit others, and accepting bribes of more than 2.23 million yuan.
Publicizing cases is a first for the commission. Previously, corrupt political and legal officials were named and shamed within their own circles.
Only a day before, four discipline officials who worked for the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) were reported to have been punished for breaking laws and Party anti-graft guidelines.
In the most serious case, Wu Qiang from east China’s Jiangxi Province was stripped of his CPC membership and expelled from public office for drunk driving and killing a pedestrian in 2013.
In another incident, Wu Jimian from central China’s Hubei Province was prosecuted for killing a hotel worker and injuring two others while driving a police car after leaving a banquet.
Shen Wanhao from north China’s Hebei Province was dismissed from his post for beating another discipline official during a banquet.
The fourth official, Ren Jiangang from north China’s Shanxi Province, received a Party warning for holding banquets to commemorate his father’s death and accepting 7,900 yuan in cash.
While these cases may not constitute the powerful “tigers” the CPC vowed to take down in the fresh anti-graft drive, they nevertheless sound an alarm for disciplinary, political and legal officials, said Xin, who added that anti-graft bodies would be more effective and powerful once they fix their internal problems.
“Officials of the discipline, political and legal systems are fighters against corruption and guardians of justice… They cannot do their job if they themselves are crooked,” he said.
via Graft busters under increasing scrutiny in China’s corruption crackdown – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
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