Officials in key sectors lured by corruptionBy Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-30 06:54
BEIJING - Urban construction城市建设,城市工程, rural infrastructure农村基础设施, transport, and railway projects are the sectors worst hit by corruption贪污 and other crimes stemming from起源于 abuse of power滥用权力, a senior prosecutor检察官,公诉人 said. Officials from key departments, such as land and resources, housing and rural-urban development as well as law enforcement执行,实施,强制, tend to be the most vulnerable易受攻击的,易受伤害的 as the bribes赃物 they are offered reflect the significance of their departments, Song Hansong, head of the department targeting crimes committed by officials, under the Supreme People's Procuratorate检察院 (SPP), told China Daily. "Corruption and bribery account for the majority of crimes committed by officials," he said.
[/table]From January to March, prosecuting起诉,进行,实行 agencies nationwide charged 1,923 suspects嫌疑犯 in major construction projects with crimes related to their office, according to SPP statistics统计,统计资料. Of the 1,923 suspects, 160 were senior officials. The charges covered activities in 1,583 cases.
Of these, more than 94 percent, 1,498, were related to corruption and bribery involving 270 million yuan ($41.5 million), according to the SPP. Cases related to negligence疏忽,忽视,粗心大意 and infringement侵犯,违反 of public rights accounted for 85. Song said bribery was particularly rampant蔓延的,狂暴的,奔放的 in construction projects. The vast majority of corruption-related crimes in construction occur during bidding投标,出价,命令 and approval procedures as well as land transfers土地所有权转移, he said. Along with crimes involving administration, they account for 75 percent of cases in the construction sector. Bribery occurs in many forms, including so-called information and consultation咨询,讨论会 fees to officials, share offers, and the provision of cheap or free housing出售各种牌子酒的酒店. This makes it more difficult to detect, Song said. In March 2011, Jiangsu provincial higher people's court upheld支持 the death sentence meted out给予 by a lower court to Jiang Renjie, former vice-mayor of Suzhou city in Jiangsu, for accepting bribes of up to 100 million yuan. From 2001 to 2004, Jiang, who was in charge of urban construction, planning and real estate房地产,不动产 development, abused his position to help secure "illegal interests" in land development, land ownership swaps交易, and project bids. Prosecuting agencies should pay special attention to crimes that violate public economic interests and individual rights, Song said. Demolition拆除,破坏,毁坏, land approval and resource development are areas that are directly linked to people's well-being and crimes committed in these sectors can easily spark social unrest社会动荡,社会不安, Song said. Supervision监督,管理 is the key, he suggested, for prosecutors检察官,告发者 to tackle扭到,处理,抓住,固定 crimes involving corruption. "Clues can be found in audits审计, financial documents财政文件,金融单据, inspections and even from the Internet and mass media," he said. "The fundamental causes of corruption are flawed有缺陷的,有裂纹的 regulations combined with a lack of administrative supervision," said Li Guifang, deputy chief副局长,副科长 of the criminal defense committee under the All China Lawyers Association. "Some government officials have distorted扭曲 values," he said. These distorted values and absolute power over their sector can lead to absolute corruption, he said. Prosecuting agencies should establish a risk prevention and control mechanism控制机构, said Hong Daode, a law professor at China University of Political Science and law. "Strengthening cooperation with government departments, especially in key sectors, will help root out crime at its source," Hong said. |