The story appears on

Page A7

May 17, 2013

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Nation

3 officials held for wiretapping Party chief

THREE public officers, who allegedly placed hidden cameras in a Party chief's office and then tried to blackmail him, have been held for illegal wiretapping and photographing in Huaihua City in central China's Hunan Province.

Li Yi, 32, an official with the supervision office in Mayang Miao Autonomous County, Liu Yang, 31, police chief in Luxikou County, and Yang Fan, a Mayang court officer, are all in the dock.

Prosecutors said the trio plotted to secretly videotape violations by Hu Jiawu, the local Party chief, and blackmail him for promotions, when they dined in early February 2012. They installed spy gadgets on a water dispenser, replacing the previous dispenser in Hu's office. Between March and October 2012, Li illegally monitored Hu and stored the footages in a removable disk, Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

Li and Yang again sneaked into Hu's office during the National Day holidays in 2012 and returned the original water dispenser. After Li edited the video, he showed it to Hu on October 17 and threatened to expose him if he did not promote them.

Hu reported the matter immediately to the city's security authorities, who arrested the three conspirators. Prosecutors approved their arrests last December.

But Zhai Yong, Liu's lawyer, claimed that "external forces" were in play because the prosecutors refused to show the taped video to the public or the lawyers.

"It is so strange that we cannot see any materials related to the videotapes, which is one of the key evidences," he said. "Prosecutors claim the case involves state secret, and only when I get the official approval can I see the footages," he said, insisting the footages did not involve any foreign affairs matters or scientific data or top political secrets, the lawyer claimed.

Zhai also said the three men were not responsible for any deaths, huge economic losses or damage to the nation's image, so they cannot be charged for a crime as serious as wiretapping.

Liu did not tell Zhai much about the contents on the tape except that there were 12 clips that showed Hu taking bribes. The lawyer said inspectors from the local Party disciplinary watchdog had spoken to Liu about Hu.

But authorities denied conducting any corruption probe against Hu, who remains on the job. Family members of three suspects also said they never saw the tapes. All the evidences have been confiscated by police.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend