Chongqing official sacked over lewd video scandal
By Li Qian |
November 24, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ANOTHER one bites the dust.
In one more case of corruption and debauchery in high places, a senior government official in a southwest China city has been sacked from his post after he was identified as the person in a video having sex with a young woman which was posted on the Internet.
The Party discipline watchdog in Chongqing City yesterday confirmed that Beibei District's Party Secretary Lei Zhengfu featured in the video, which was filmed in 2007. He has been removed from his post and an investigation ordered into the case,.
After the racy video went viral on the Internet, Ji Xuguang, a journalist, published an article in the Southern Metropolis Daily this week identifying the official.
"During the Spring Festival and two days after the holiday in 2007, the man, who was deputy Party chief and head of Beibei District at that time, was fooling around with his 18-year-old mistress at a hotel in Chongqing," he wrote in the article.
Ji, who is registered under his real name on China's twitter-like website Sina Weibo, has denied uploading the video. He alleged that Lei had forcibly held the mistress, surnamed Zhao, in captivity for 30 days.
Zhao secretly filmed the video after she and Lei quarreled in early 2007 but offered it to another reporter Zhu Ruifeng only five years later, Ji wrote on his microblog.
Zhao held back the video all these years fearing retribution from the official but dared to speak up following local leadership changes, Ji said.
In an earlier interview, the chubby-faced official denied the accusations with China News Service and said, "Don't believe it. They are all fakes. Just leave it (the case) alone."
But Ji pointed out that Lei had once asked him to return the pictures.
The Chongqing government information office said the allegation report did not come from an anonymous source and promised to handle the case according to law.
Ji has promised all help to the investigators and said he "was 100 percent confident" about all the evidence against Lei, the People's Daily reported. Ji claimed Lei also abused his official status for personal gains.
When Lei was the Party chief in the city's Dianjiang County between 2002 and 2006, he reportedly gave contracts of construction projects, such as renovating roads and building schools, to his relatives.
Ji alleged that with Lei's help, his brother became a multi-millionaire from a poor farmer, while Zhao opened a decoration company rather than a small beauty parlor.
Ji has become an instant hit with netizens with his exploits and has been dubbed "a real man" and a "national hero."
Many believe that the case was another success for Internet users, who act as an invisible watchdog.
"You are not alone, Hope you have a safe trip to Chongqing," one net user wrote.
The Party has also stepped up its campaign against corruption, seeking to counter anger from citizens over regular reports of graft and debauchery among officials. Net-savvy Chinese people have found a potent weapon for fighting official corruption and abuse of power in microblogs like Weibo, which had more than 420 million users at the end of the third quarter of this year.
In September, another official, Yang Dacai, lost his job in the northwestern province of Shaanxi after Internet users compiled pictures of him wearing several luxury watches that were outside his reach, given his civil servant's pay.
A month later, an urban management official in the southern province of Guangdong, Cai Bin, was sacked after online postings showed that he owned as many as 22 properties.
In one more case of corruption and debauchery in high places, a senior government official in a southwest China city has been sacked from his post after he was identified as the person in a video having sex with a young woman which was posted on the Internet.
The Party discipline watchdog in Chongqing City yesterday confirmed that Beibei District's Party Secretary Lei Zhengfu featured in the video, which was filmed in 2007. He has been removed from his post and an investigation ordered into the case,.
After the racy video went viral on the Internet, Ji Xuguang, a journalist, published an article in the Southern Metropolis Daily this week identifying the official.
"During the Spring Festival and two days after the holiday in 2007, the man, who was deputy Party chief and head of Beibei District at that time, was fooling around with his 18-year-old mistress at a hotel in Chongqing," he wrote in the article.
Ji, who is registered under his real name on China's twitter-like website Sina Weibo, has denied uploading the video. He alleged that Lei had forcibly held the mistress, surnamed Zhao, in captivity for 30 days.
Zhao secretly filmed the video after she and Lei quarreled in early 2007 but offered it to another reporter Zhu Ruifeng only five years later, Ji wrote on his microblog.
Zhao held back the video all these years fearing retribution from the official but dared to speak up following local leadership changes, Ji said.
In an earlier interview, the chubby-faced official denied the accusations with China News Service and said, "Don't believe it. They are all fakes. Just leave it (the case) alone."
But Ji pointed out that Lei had once asked him to return the pictures.
The Chongqing government information office said the allegation report did not come from an anonymous source and promised to handle the case according to law.
Ji has promised all help to the investigators and said he "was 100 percent confident" about all the evidence against Lei, the People's Daily reported. Ji claimed Lei also abused his official status for personal gains.
When Lei was the Party chief in the city's Dianjiang County between 2002 and 2006, he reportedly gave contracts of construction projects, such as renovating roads and building schools, to his relatives.
Ji alleged that with Lei's help, his brother became a multi-millionaire from a poor farmer, while Zhao opened a decoration company rather than a small beauty parlor.
Ji has become an instant hit with netizens with his exploits and has been dubbed "a real man" and a "national hero."
Many believe that the case was another success for Internet users, who act as an invisible watchdog.
"You are not alone, Hope you have a safe trip to Chongqing," one net user wrote.
The Party has also stepped up its campaign against corruption, seeking to counter anger from citizens over regular reports of graft and debauchery among officials. Net-savvy Chinese people have found a potent weapon for fighting official corruption and abuse of power in microblogs like Weibo, which had more than 420 million users at the end of the third quarter of this year.
In September, another official, Yang Dacai, lost his job in the northwestern province of Shaanxi after Internet users compiled pictures of him wearing several luxury watches that were outside his reach, given his civil servant's pay.
A month later, an urban management official in the southern province of Guangdong, Cai Bin, was sacked after online postings showed that he owned as many as 22 properties.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
