Chinese ex-senior official accused of taking bribes

BEIJING • China has initiated a public prosecution against former senior official Fu Zhenghua, alleging that he took bribes and bent the law for personal gains.

The Changchun Municipal People's Procuratorate in north-east China's Jilin province recently filed a lawsuit with the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun, an official statement said yesterday.

The lawsuit comes following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Supervisory Commission into Fu's case.

He was formerly deputy head of the committee on social and legal affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Previously, he had also served as head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, vice-minister of public security, and minister of justice.

The procuratorate charged Fu with taking undue advantage of his official authority or position to seek gains for others and illegally accepting a huge amount of bribes in money and valuables in return.

Disregarding his duty as a judicial official, Fu engaged in favouritism for selfish reasons and purposefully shielded from criminal prosecution those he knew to be guilty, it said.

Public prosecutors said that he should be held criminally responsible for his crimes.

XINHUA