7,716 policemen received punishments in 5,526 cases last year for corruption, illegally using guns and weapons, abusing suspects and criminals, extracting confessions by torture and other illegal behaviors.

Sun Yongbo, spokesman of the Public Security Ministry, said Monday at a regular press conference that the clear-up campaign had helped maintain the "iron" discipline of the police team effectively.

Last January, the ministry issued a new conduct code called "Five Prohibitions", which explicitly forbid such behaviors as gambling, drinking on duty, drunk driving, carrying guns off duty, and carrying guns while drunk.

Statistics show that 988 policemen had been investigated and prosecuted last year for breaking the "Five Prohibitions", among which 387 were fired.

Last year also saw 1,548 police cadres receive disciplinary penalties for their negligence in supervision duties, which also contributed to the occurrence of these cases. The figure was 58.7 percent higher than that in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Sun said, cases involving severe breaching of the law had decreased significantly.

According to the statistics from the conference, corruption and blackmail cases in 2003 reduced by 12.1 percent over the previous year, cases of illegally using guns and weapons dropped by 11.6 percent, cases of abusing suspects and criminals decreased by 4.2 percent, and cases of extracting confessions by torture also dropped by 1.6 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2004)