Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews Chinese authorities revealed the involvement of 24 people in the illegally commuted sentence of Zhang Hai, the former president of Janlibao, a Guangdong sports drink company. This case exposes the shady bartering of money in exchange for reduced sentence and parole in the Communist judiciary system. Meanwhile, on the 25th, the regime announced that over the past five years, 68,776 Chinese inmates were found to have been illegally freed from jail. Consequently, the public's calls for transparency in such case trials are growing louder. On Feb. 24 the Chinese Supreme Procuratorate revealed that as of January, a total of 24 people in the judiciary and prison systems have been or are currently being investigated in connection with Zhang Hai's release. Zhang Hai and his girlfriend have fled overseas. Authorities have filed an arrest warrant for Zhang and have begun the extradition process. According to Mainland media, Zhang was arrested for misappropriation of funds in March of 2005. In February of 2007, Zhang received a 15-year prison sentence for embezzlement and misappropriation of funds. Using bribery, Zhang Hai's girlfriend assisted in Zhang's release in early 2011, and they quietly fled overseas. Law Professor Chang Zanning points out that privileged Chinese inmates' monetary exchange for early release as well as the manipulation of authorities by judicial officers for the release of criminals are common phenomena. Professor Chang Zanning, Southeast University, Nanjing: "In general, this kind of violation involves group crimes. Rarely can one person make it happen. As for the extradition, it is possible in the countries that share treaties with China. If there is no treaty, it depends on the circumstances." Attorney Tang Jingling: "Even without the (extradition) protocol, it is also possible to go through diplomatic means. However, China does not share such treaties with many countries. That is the reason why a massive amount of corrupt officials have fled overseas." A 2011 publication by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) revealed that since the mid-1990s, between 16,000 and 18,000 Communist officials have gone missing or have fled abroad with an estimated 800 billion yuan ($130.6 billion). According to the 2014 edition of the Blue Book on the Rule of Law by CASS, the fleeing of corrupt officials will continue to increase. The Blue Book recommends the increased supervision of public servants and 'naked officials'. The cases of fleeing corrupt officials and the illegal release of inmates have been so frequent that the call for transparency in case trials has increased. Just recently, the Guangdong High Court website revealed 733 cases of illegal commutation. On Feb. 25, the Supreme Procuratorate also announced that the procuratorial organs have examined a total of 68,776 commutation cases over the past five years. Such a huge number confirms the Communist judicial corruption and monetary exchange between the authorities and the underground society. Attorney Tang Jingling: "There have been few provisions regarding commutation and parole. It has become a common judicial corruption phenomenon in China. That is, the gangsters and the criminals will use their connections with officials to pay for their early release." The illegal bribery is widespread. In response, the Communist Political and Legal Affairs Commission has issued guidance to supervise early release and to prevent judiciary corruption. Tang Jingling indicates that even though the regime intended for the more explicit and stringent measures to constrain officials from indulging in illegal commutation and parole, the effectiveness is questionable. Tang Jingling: "In China, it is not about lawlessness, but the failure of the government. The government has failed because of widespread corruption and collusion between officials. The laws become useless. Improvement to the details of provisions serves no use." So, how can the loopholes in the current commutation and parole laws be closed? Attorney Tang Jingling analyzes that to a large extent, overall information disclosure and transparency is needed, as well as the improvement of the political and judicial systems. 《神韵》2014世界巡演新亮点 http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/

• published: 26 Feb 2014
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