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Anhui chief, prosecutor on trial for abuse of power

By Jane Chen | June 26, 2009, Friday | Online Edition

A FORMER district top official and a chief prosecutor in east China's Anhui Province went on trial yesterday for abuse of power.

Zhang Zhi'an, the former Communist Party Chief of Yingquan District, Fuyang City, and Wang Cheng, the district's former chief prosecutor, appeared at the Wuhu City Intermediate People's Court yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Zhang was also charged with taking bribes, but the report did not say how much money was involved.

The two were investigated after the suspicious death of a businessman who had petitioned the central government over local abuses of power, the report said.

Zhang got a letter complaining about his corrupt activities in August 2007, the court heard.

He suspected it was written by Li Guofu, the former head of a real estate development company in Fuyang, and asked Wang to organize an anti-corruption investigation on Li.

To consolidate charges against Li, Zhang fabricated documents and ordered investigation into the businessman. He asked the local police to investigate the claim that Li had hired killers to kill someone. Local prosecutors were told to investigate Li's finances and the human resources authority was told to investigate Li's children's jobs.

On August 26, 2007, Li was detained. Documents complaining about Zhang's abuse of power were discovered. Wang gave the documents to Zhang who confirmed that the earlier complaint against him had been written by Li.

On September 7, 2007, Li was arrested and accused of fabricating official documents and seals and embezzling nearly 1 million yuan (US146,319) of public funds.

Concerned about Li's poor health, Fuyang detention house officers suggested Li be kept outside the jail. But Wang refused to allow this. Li was suffered from cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Li confessed to all the fabricated charges after being threatened that his family would all be punished if he did not.

With these "confessions," Wang suggested prosecutors lay charges against Li and Zhang hinted that the local court would severely punish him.

Li hanged himself on March 13. He was completely blind before he committed suicide, according to his family.

Zhang had been angry with Li after Li had accused Zhang of abuses of power, which climaxed in the construction of a luxury government building designed to look like the White House in Washington, according to earlier media reports.

He had traveled to Beijing several times hoping to bring Zhang to justice.

Sources close to the local government said the building, which was put into use in 2003, cost at least 30 million yuan, nearly one third of the total revenue of the Yingquan District.
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