SPP targets dubious paroles

Prosecutors urge probes into early release of 76 officials

China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has urged parole decisions involving 76 corrupt officials be revoked as the top prosecutors' office released a new guideline tightening controls over the abuse of commuted sentences and parole as part of an upgraded nationwide anti-corruption campaign.

Zhang Bencai, spokesperson for the SPP, said on Tuesday at a press conference in Beijing that the procuratorate had urged parole decisions involving 711 criminals be revoked, including 76 officials at bureau level or above.

The move came as a new guideline from the SPP stipulates that any commuted sentences and parole decisions must be verified by procuratorate organs.

Prosecutors are required to conduct thorough investigations into commutation or parole applications from those convicted of duty, financial or gang crimes as well as people who have committed extremely violent crimes or been involved in high-profile cases.

The new guideline also made special mention of those who had drastic cuts to their sentences, who claimed to have performed major meritorious services and who repeatedly applied for parole within a short time period.

Prosecutors are urged to conduct one-on-one interviews, perform authentication tests on documents and attend commutation or parole review meetings to oversee the decision-making process and to promote judicial transparency.

"Commutation and parole are incentives to encourage convicts to correct their mistakes and make a change in their life so that they can return to society. However, in recent years, there were cases where rich and powerful people escaped legal punishment and bought their way out of prison," Zhang said, adding that such cases have drawn wide-spread attention and caused severe damage to the country's judicial credibility.

In one of the most high-profile cases, Zhang Hai, former CEO of Guangdong Jianlibao Group, a renowned beverage company, reduced his jail term of 15 years for embezzlement to four years by fabricating application materials for an automobile rear mirror patent which he claimed had made major contribution to the country. Twenty-four court and jail officials in Guangdong province have been held responsible.

In a separate example, Lin Chongzhong, former deputy mayor of Jiangmen in Guangdong, was granted immediate medical release based on false health reports in 2009 despite the fact that he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribery and abuse of power.

The cases prompted the Supreme People's Court to release a new regulation in April that demands all commutation cases be heard in public hearings.

In response, the SPP said in its new guideline that at least two prosecutors must be present in each of these hearings. The guideline stressed that any inappropriate decision on parole or commutation must be corrected and judicial corruption must be severely punished.

"What worries me the most are parole decisions based on medical conditions," Ruan Qilin, a law professor from the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.

"The length of the reduced jail term from commuted sentences and other parole can be limited. But medical parole is based on hospital reports. There is no limit on how long the patients can stay out of jail and the diagnostics can be easily manipulated," Ruan said.

Although the SPP and the Ministry of Justice inspect parole and commutation cases on a yearly basis, both organs carried out their work with unforeseen strength this year.

According to the Southern Weekly, China's top leadership harshly criticized the illegal and undisciplined activities prevalent in commuted sentences, parole and medical release cases in January's central working conference of politics and law.

In the first half of this year, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has established 11 inspection teams where inspectors are required to review the cases of officials released on medical parole from 22 provincial regions.

"The effort made by SPP reinforces the result of the anti-corruption campaign and is another step toward the institutionalization of the drive," Ren Jianmin, professor of the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.