Shenzhen judges arrested in graft probe

By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-08 06:49

SHENZHEN: Five senior judges from Shenzhen's Intermediate People's Court have been arrested on corruption charges.

The judges, a vice-president, three court presidents and a retired judge, were arrested in a series of raids between June and October, Chinese-language newspaper the Democracy and Law Times reported on Monday.

Another 20-odd judges and lawyers are also reportedly involved in what has become the special economic zone's biggest ever judicial scandal.

The local government refused to comment on the scandal yesterday.

"The court is an independent department," a government spokesman told China Daily. "We suggested it give some response to the media after we read the report, but so far we have got nothing from them."

Li Rujian, spokesman for Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, said he would not make any comment on cases that have not been officially prosecuted, adding that the media should be cautious when reporting on incomplete cases.

The corruption cases, believed to be linked, were initially triggered by a Shenzhen People's Procuratorate investigation into the relationship between retired judge Liao Zhaohui and an auction house boss.

They were both arrested after the investigations showed Liao had taken bribes from the boss while he was president of the execution division.

In early June, Zhang Tinghua, president of the court of bankruptcy, was arrested shortly after moving to his new office. Procurators recovered 100,000 yuan (US$12,700) in cash from his car.

Rumours are circulating that procurators also found more than 1.5 million yuan (US$190,000) in cash, including HK$1.2 million (US$154,000), hidden in his office.

Pei Hongquan, vice-president of Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, was arrested in October after two female court presidents, one of whom is his former wife, were put under special measures.

Officials from the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection are said to have found more than 27 million yuan (US$3.4 million) as well as US$950,000, hidden behind air-conditioners, toilets and inside the gold fish pool at his house.

Pei, 51, launched a package of reforms aiming at improving the judicial efficiency when he became president of a district court in 1999.

As a result, he has won numerous honours, including the "Good Judge that People are Most Satisfied With" award from the national court system.

The Democracy and Law Times report cited an insider as saying that investigation teams formed by the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection and Ministry of Supervision have been stationed in Guangdong Province.

"The investigation teams' leaders have vowed to continue their investigation until they thoroughly solve the problem and get rid of judicial crime in Shenzhen," said the report.

The scandal comes as the government announced a strengthening of its anti-corruption campaign.

Xiao Yang, president of the Supreme People's Court, has reiterated the importance of fighting corruption on several occasions recently and requested courts at different levels to enhance their anti-corruption measures.

 



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