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¡¡¡¡NINGBO, Zhejiang, Jan. 18 (Xinhuanet)-- As of March 1, 2006, China's
procurators will dispatch special technicians to make live recordings of the
interrogation of criminals suspected of job-related crimes, so as to ensure that
confessions be not extorted by torture.
¡¡¡¡The infor
mation was disclosed by Wang Zhenchuan, vice procurator-general of
the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) at an on-going national meeting on
supervising job-related crimes interrogation in Ningbo of east China's Zhejiang
Province.
¡¡¡¡He also said that as of October 1, 2007, procurators will make real-time
videos of all interrogations concerning job-related crimes, which mainly include
graft and dereliction of duty.
¡¡¡¡"Objectively recording and filming interrogations concerning job-related
crimes will help prevent violations of the law during interrogation, help ensure
the accuracy of key evidence and prevent criminal suspects from revoking
confessions or bringing false charges against interrogators. What's more, new
clues may be found by repeatedly watching the videotapes," said Wang.
¡¡¡¡Investigating job-related crimes, such as graft and dereliction of duty, is
one of the key supervision functions of China's prosecuting bodies and an
important part of the country's fight against corruption. Ensuring objective
interrogation will also help fight corruption, said Wang.
¡¡¡¡He stressed that interrogations should be recorded live and in whole. No
detail should be skipped. No one should edit the raw videotape materials without
authorization. The recording and videotape materials should be kept
confidential.
¡¡¡¡Technicians or procurators who take responsibility for recording or
videoing will be forbidden to have dealings with the interrogators. If illegal
editing of the video or audio files is discovered, the procurators concerned
will be referred to a disciplinary hearing.
¡¡¡¡Li Guifang, vice director of the Criminal Committee of the All-
¡¡¡¡China Lawyers Association, said recording or videotaping interrogations
concerning job-related crimes was a significant start. If it proves successful
and is extended to interrogations for all kinds of criminal cases, it will be a
big step forward in preventing the abuse of power by interrogators.
¡¡¡¡The phenomenon of policemen extorting confessions from criminal suspects by
torture has been repeatedly exposed and reported by Chinese media in recent
years, leading to a public outcry. Enditem ¡¡
¡¡¡¡
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