Former minister of justice accused of taking bribes

Former minister of justice Fu Zhenghua, who is suspected of accepting bribes and abusing his power for personal gain, is being prosecuted in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released on its official website on Monday.

The SPP said the Changchun People's Procuratorate recently initiated prosecution against Fu, who was deputy head of the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, at the Changchun Intermediate People's Court.

Prosecutors said Fu took advantage of his various work positions as head of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, deputy head of the Ministry of Public Security and head of the Ministry of Justice to benefit others. In return, he accepted extremely large bribes.

Fu, who is also a former judicial official, should be charged with accepting bribes and violating the law for personal gain, the prosecutors said.

Besides informing Fu of his litigation rights and interrogating him during the case review, the prosecutors added that they had also listened to opinions from Fu's lawyer.

Fu was placed under investigation for suspected severe violations of discipline and law in October.

In April, SPP, the country's top prosecuting authority, approved Fu's arrest on the bribery and personal gain charges. The SPP also named the Changchun prosecutors who are responsible for handling the case.

Fu, a native of Hebei province, worked in various positions in China's public security and judicial systems for many years.

He became head of the Beijing Public Security in 2010, and then served as deputy head of the Ministry of Public Security in 2013. From March 2018 to April 2020, he was head of the Ministry of Justice.

In May 2020, he became the deputy head of the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the National Committee of the CPPCC.