Zhou graft probe will be made public
Print Edition
THE corruption investigation into China’s former public security chief will take a long time to complete, but the government is expected to release details of the case to the public at an appropriate time, a senior official said yesterday.
Deputy Justice Minister Zhang Sujun said the case of Zhou Yongkang is in the hands of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Party’s anti-graft watchdog.
Zhou is the most senior official to be implicated in the government’s crackdown on corruption, or any such scandal since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Zhou is a former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. He is suspected of serious disciplinary violation.
“The investigation is ongoing but it will be a lengthy process as all of the evidence has to be reviewed according to the law,” Zhang told a news conference held by the State Council Information Office.
The investigation is being carried out in a serious, responsible, comprehensive and systematic manner, reflecting the spirit of the rule of law and equality of every person before the law.
“I believe that once the relevant authorities have completed their work, they will definitely announce it to the public in an appropriate way via an appropriate channel,” he said.
Zhang said people can rest assured the case is being handled in line with China’s commitment to the rule of law.
“I think you should not worry, I can only say that this matter enhances confidence in the rule of law,” he said.
Also at yesterday’s press conference, Zhang said that a warden and his deputy at Beijiang Prison in Shaoguan, south China’s Guangdong Province, have been removed from their posts following a jailbreak by two prisoners on Saturday morning.
Li Mengjun, 28, and Wu Changgui scaled a perimeter wall at the facility, only to find an electrified fence on the other side, police said earlier.
Both men were hit by electric shocks, but while Wu fell back into the compound and was recaptured, Li fell outside the grounds and made a bid for freedom.
His liberty was shortlived, however, as he was found the next day near an abandoned factory just 600 meters from the prison.
Zhang told the press conference that flaws in management and a substandard facility were to blame for the jailbreak.
“Facilities are outdated ... and the unit has yet to complete an upgrade of its security system. So there are clearly some management issues,” he said.
Of the 1,700 meters of walls at the aging Beijiang Prison, just 500 meters are of a standard necessary to prevent jailbreaks and serve as a defense, Zhang said.
An investigation into possible misconduct by officials has also been launched, he said.
After two jailbreaks in less than two months, prisons across the country should take a good look at themselves, Zhang said.
In September, three men escaped from a detention center in Yanshou County, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, after killing a warden and donning guard uniforms. They were all later recaptured.
Four police officers, including the deputy head of the local public security bureau, were suspended in the wake of the incident.
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