Ninety-one Chinese prosecutors have been punished for violating law enforcement procedures while carrying out criminal investigations since May 2005, Prosecutor-general Jia Chunwang of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said in Beijing Monday in his report to the country's top legislature.

 

They were punished as a result of a nationwide campaign launched by the SPP to regulate law enforcement activities in a bid to "enforce legal supervision and safeguard justice," said Jia.

 

A total of 275 prosecutors have been removed from office for serious faults with law enforcement procedures since 2003 and were being retrained, Jia said.

 

In recent years China has been investigating job-related crimes of high-level officials, "profitable" government departments, monopoly industries and state-owned companies in an effort to weed out corruption.

 

However, misconduct of prosecutors and unlawful actions such as illegally prolonging custody of suspects and taking bribes have aroused public concern and criticism.

 

"Law enforcement activities which go against rules still exist in certain places," Jia said. Such behavior negatively affected society and had to be stopped, added Jia. 

 

The prosecutor-general said the SPP had been targeting four types of violations in the nationwide campaign including favoritism for personal gain, misconduct during law enforcement activities, dereliction of duty and malfeasance.

 

In an effort to improve judicial justice the SPP last March also required prosecuting departments to phase in the practice of audio and videotaping the interrogation of suspects to prevent them being coerced into making confessions.

 

The SPP also required prosecutors to respect lawyers' rights in meeting with suspects and collecting evidence during criminal proceedings to protect those being prosecuted. Reviewing the national campaign to better regulate law enforcement Jia said such efforts had greatly reduced the unlawful activities of China's prosecutors.

 

The Prosecutor-General said complaints against prosecutors had dropped 20.7 percent since 2003 and the number disciplined fallen 61.9 percent over the same period.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2006)