Four lawyers have been banned from their profession
for life after investigations confirmed they bribed a judge,
according to local Shenzhen press on Tuesday. The judge was
sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.
The Southern Metropolitan News said it is
the first time Shenzhen lawyers have had their licenses revoked and
follows a yearlong campaign against judicial and legal
corruption.
Judge Zheng Haishi, from the city’s intermediate
people’s court, was found guilty of taking bribes of 1.43 million
yuan (US$173,000).
Lawyers Li Xiyue, Pu Yongfa, Zhang Jian and Feng
You offered Zheng 20,000 to 150,000 yuan between November 2000 and
March 2003 in order to get favorable verdicts for their
clients.
Twelve law offices were suspended during the
cleanup campaign and another is under legal investigation.
Also in Shenzhen, former police chief An Huijun
will stand trial late this month charged with taking bribes of more
than 2 million yuan (US$240,000).
The 50-year-old is accused of accepting 1.6 million
yuan (US$193,300), HK$530,000 (US$68,000), US$1,000 and two TV sets
in bribes between 1996 and 2003 whilst chief of the Luohu District
Public Security Sub-bureau.
She allegedly took 17 bribes, 15 being paid by
police officers in exchange for job promotions, prosecutors said.
She was also accused of getting bribes from an automobile supplier
and a project contractor.
However, prosecutors did not deal with alleged "sex
bribes" from some police officers, saying such activities, if any,
were not covered by law. Only money and other tangible properties
could be regarded as bribes, they said.
An’s case emerged in December during an
investigation into complaints that some Luohu police took bribes
while investigating a case. She had been vice chief of the city’s
port office since June 2003.
(Shenzhen Daily April 14, 2005)