Former senior official prosecuted

Former minister of justice Fu Zhenghua, who is suspected of accepting bribes and abusing his power for personal gain, is being prosecuted in Changchun, Jilin province, according to a statement released on Monday by the Supreme People's Procuratorate on its official website.

The nation's top procuratorate said in the statement that the Changchun People's Procuratorate recently initiated the prosecution of Fu, who was deputy head of the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, at Changchun Intermediate People's Court.

Prosecutors said Fu took advantage of his various posts as head of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, vice-minister of public security and minister of justice to benefit others. In return, he accepted a huge amount of bribes in money and valuables.

As a judicial official, Fu violated laws for personal gain, and even protected and prevented people from being punished, although he knew those should be accused, according to the prosecutors.

Considering the serious situation, Fu also needs to be criminally held accountable for violating laws for personal gain, the prosecutors said, adding that he should be punished for his several offenses in line with the law.

Besides informing Fu of his litigation rights and questioning him during the case review, the prosecutors added that they had also listened to opinions from Fu's lawyer.

Fu was placed under investigation for suspected severe violations of discipline and the law in October.

In April, the top procuratorate approved Fu's arrest on the bribery and personal gain charges.

Fu, 67, a native of Hebei province, worked in various positions in China's public security and judicial systems for many years.

He became head of the Beijing Public Security in 2010, and was appointed vice-minister of public security in 2013. From March 2018 to April 2020, he was the minister of justice.