Discipline, supervision agencies crack down on false accusations

A number of discipline and supervision departments across China are cracking down on false accusations to ensure that punishments are based on proper evidence.

At the end of last year, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Commission of Supervision, the country's top anti-corruption watchdogs, posted a video calling for greater efforts to investigate those who falsely accuse or frame others.

In the video, the commissions said that reporting is an important channel for them to obtain evidence and figure out problems, but stressed that "truthful reporting is the basic requirement for informants."

Citing the Party's punishment regulation, the commissions specified that people making or spreading rumors to disrupt the unity of the CPC, or who are fabricating evidence to frame others, will be given a warning, and those involved in serious situations should be removed from the Party.

Since then, discipline and supervision organs nationwide have intensified the investigation of such false accusations.

In Ningbo, Zhejiang province, for example, local commissions recently issued a guideline to deal with people being framed, requiring departments fighting corruption, including public security and judicial authorities, to increase information exchanges and build a team to collect evidence if they find people suspected of making false accusations.

The commissions also pledged to help victims clear their names and eliminate negative effects in a timely manner.

Before the guideline was released, anti-corruption departments in Heilongjiang and Anhui provinces had already disclosed 15 influential cases concerning false accusations. All the cases can be found on the CCDI's website.

Early this month, for instance, an informant surnamed Sun, who worked for the Harbin Public Security Bureau branch in Xiangfang district, was detained for allegedly fabricating corruption and bribery allegations against 22 police officers. Sun was discovered to have had a bad relationship with some of his colleagues.

In March, discipline and supervision commissions in Anhui's Hengshan township held a meeting to clear the name of the Party chief in Dongshimen village. They said that they received anonymous reports in November 2021 claiming that the official had privately benefited from the construction of a local bridge, but after an investigation, the accusation was determined to be false.

In addition, a campaign against false accusations has been launched in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, during which the procedures to handle reports were further specified to guarantee disciplinary punishments are provided based on truly strong evidence.