China's top prosecutor stresses crackdown on power abuse and dereliction of duty

China's top prosecutor on Tuesday warned officials who abuse their positions to undermine public confidence in the government that they would receive no leniency in court.

Jia Chunwang, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said prosecutors should focus on cases of officials abusing their authority and dereliction of duty, especially concerning food, drug and work safety.

He said public servants whose misconduct led to death or serious economic losses should be severely punished in accordance with laws and regulations.

"We should always put the people's interests first," Jia said.

He said local procurator-generals should directly lead or supervise major dereliction of duty cases to ensure they are handled properly.

Teams of prosecutors should be trained to specialize in the investigation of power abuse and dereliction of duty cases.

The SPP planned to amend the criteria for "major" cases of power abuse or dereliction of duty to ensure guilty officials were punished accordingly.

Chinese prosecutors investigated 1,383 serious accidents in the workplace last year, but only 629 government employees were prosecuted and only 249 were punished.

Of the 249 officials, 131 were exempted from criminal sanctions, 107 were put on probation, two were found not guilty, and nine were jailed.

Source: Xinhua