November 25, 2009 15:35 PM

Eavesdropping And Wiretapping Could Be Used To Fight Corruption

BEIJING, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- Adoption of special measures such as wiretapping and eavesdropping will probably be introduced into investigation of corruption cases, Deputy Procurator-General at the Supreme People's Procuratorate Zhu Xiaoqing said, quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

Speaking at a seminar at Renmin University of China here, Zhu who was quoted by China Daily Wednesday, said that anti-corruption cases are becoming more and more complicated whereas current laws about investigative methods are not elaborate enough.

However, Beijing-based lawyer Zhang Kai said that such measures have already been used in many cases even though there's no clear legal basis for them.

"If they want to legalize such measures, they should set limits and make it clear what kind of cases can be investigated that way, and what time the suspect should be wiretapped," Zhang said.

China Daily quoted Zhu Wenqi, a law professor from Renmin University of China, who is against the adoption of such measures, thinks that such measures are "fundamentally wrong".

"The current law does not specify whether it is legal and I think they are illegal measures as they are offences to people's privacy," he told China Daily.

The current law only stipulates that "questioning by torture, threatening, tempting, and other illegal methods are forbidden to be used in gathering evidence".

China Daily reported that according to the procuratorate, more than 9,000 officials were found guilty of corruption in the first six months of the year, including embezzlement, bribery, dereliction of duty and rights violations.

The procuratorate also said in July that it would put more effort into cracking down on corruption and targeting officials who bend the law for the benefit of friends or relatives.

-- BERNAMA

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