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Jail term needn't obstruct officials' career advancement
By Ni Tao |
May 16, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
OFFICIALS sentenced to prison often are sacked from jobs and lose all their privileges.
But some don't serve time because of suspended sentences and continue to get promotions and perks despite their criminal records.
Yang Zhihui and Xu Xin, ex-officials with the Land and Resources Bureau of Gushi County, Henan Province, were given suspended jail terms in 2010 for dereliction of duty and illegal sales of land. Yet it was reported this month that they were promoted repeatedly after the court verdict.
While it defies imagination to see the duo rise up the bureaucratic ladder, Pan Jiayun, the bureau's chief, claimed no knowledge of the trial. "Nobody knew if a verdict was announced," Pan said. It's curious how Pan, who has served as the chief since 2009, could not know that his two subordinates were put on trial.
So far the only person shamed in this scandal is the judge overseeing the duo's trial. He was given a disciplinary warning for failure to notify the bureau of the verdict. However, it's the bureau's own job to screen candidates for qualifications for promotions, and weed them out if blots are found. The bureau obviously didn't do that.
In a similar case in Huangshan City, Anhui Province, it was recently exposed that Wang Weiqi, a former township government official, still received perks from his employer despite the fact that he was sentenced to jail in 2012 for blackmail and had since gone AWOL.
Asked why Wang was still on its payroll, the bureau said in a notice that it didn't know Wang was behind bars.
Again, it is a ludicrous excuse. Why did inquiry about his whereabouts begin only after the expose, at least half a year after his absence?
Maybe the court didn't dully publicize verdicts of trials, sometimes held behind closed doors, otherwise, criminal officials could have been de-listed from government payroll and denied promotion.
But ought their employers to be held more accountable for not running thorough background checks?
But some don't serve time because of suspended sentences and continue to get promotions and perks despite their criminal records.
Yang Zhihui and Xu Xin, ex-officials with the Land and Resources Bureau of Gushi County, Henan Province, were given suspended jail terms in 2010 for dereliction of duty and illegal sales of land. Yet it was reported this month that they were promoted repeatedly after the court verdict.
While it defies imagination to see the duo rise up the bureaucratic ladder, Pan Jiayun, the bureau's chief, claimed no knowledge of the trial. "Nobody knew if a verdict was announced," Pan said. It's curious how Pan, who has served as the chief since 2009, could not know that his two subordinates were put on trial.
So far the only person shamed in this scandal is the judge overseeing the duo's trial. He was given a disciplinary warning for failure to notify the bureau of the verdict. However, it's the bureau's own job to screen candidates for qualifications for promotions, and weed them out if blots are found. The bureau obviously didn't do that.
In a similar case in Huangshan City, Anhui Province, it was recently exposed that Wang Weiqi, a former township government official, still received perks from his employer despite the fact that he was sentenced to jail in 2012 for blackmail and had since gone AWOL.
Asked why Wang was still on its payroll, the bureau said in a notice that it didn't know Wang was behind bars.
Again, it is a ludicrous excuse. Why did inquiry about his whereabouts begin only after the expose, at least half a year after his absence?
Maybe the court didn't dully publicize verdicts of trials, sometimes held behind closed doors, otherwise, criminal officials could have been de-listed from government payroll and denied promotion.
But ought their employers to be held more accountable for not running thorough background checks?
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