'Senior gang protector' to be prosecuted

By Wang Huazhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-22 08:15

CHONGQING: The most senior suspect believed to have protected organized gangs - the former deputy municipal police head and former director of the Chongqing Justice Bureau Wen Qiang - is being prosecuted.

A document filed at the Chongqing No 5 Intermediate People's Court did not specify the charges.

However, an official from the publicity office of the intermediate court confirmed the prosecution with China Daily, asking the newspaper to "keep track of the court's updates of trial announcements online."

The officer refused to reveal charges dropped on 54-year-old Wen, and the procuratorate could not be reached yesterday.

Former deputy director of Chongqing's public security bureau, Wen was arrested last September for sheltering mafia-style organizations and accepting bribes.

A "relationship tree" displayed earlier by the municipal police bureau showed Wen as protector for six mafia-style organizations.

Those include ones under the lead of convicted gang boss Yang Tianqing and Wang Tianlun, who were also found guilty of bribing Wen.

Also included were gangs allegedly led by Yue Ning and Chen Mingliang, who are currently accused of bribing Wen.

Wen's sister-in-law, Xie Caiping, is also a convicted godmother of a mafia-style organization.

In addition, media reported that a police investigation found Wen owned real estate worth millions of yuan and had tens of millions in cash that he could not explain the source of.

"The local legal system may need some time to rally and regain its confidence after the fall of Wen and other influential legal figures," said a local lawyer who only gave his surname as Chen.

The supplementary document also said prosecution against another former deputy director of the municipal police bureau, Peng Changjian, and the municipal procuratorate's deputy chief prosecutor, Mao Jianping, had been filed to the local No 1 and No 3 intermediate people's courts respectively.

Peng, 46, was arrested on the same day and for the same reason as Wen. Mao, 46, may also be charged as a gang protector, as another alleged local gang boss Chen Zhikun was accused of bribing him.

The document added that Zhang Tao, ex-director of the enforcement bureau of the municipal higher people's court, had been transferred to a procuratorate in neighboring Guizhou province's Zunyi last week for further investigation.

Zhang's name also appeared on the indictment of Chen Zhikun's trial for accepting bribes from the organization.

The accused are just a few of about 200 legal officials caught in the city's purge of gangs, according to former Chongqing mayor Wang Hongju.

The municipal procuratorate announced early this month that 20 bureau-chief level officials were nabbed last year for job-related crimes. Among them, 12 were arrested for their involvement with gangs.

"A handful of people like Wen Qiang and Zhang Tao seriously tarnished the image of our legal team," Liu Guanglei, Party secretary of Chongqing political and law committee, said earlier this month.

He said the city will continue the special operation this year.