No way out through death

Measures need to be adopted to block the judicial loopholes for corrupt officials to escape punishment by committing suicide

Being a leading official in a government department or agency seems to have become a risky job. On Sept 18, Lou Xuequan, former Party chief of Liuhe district of Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu province, reportedly hanged himself at his home. He was the latest of the more than 20 officials nationwide to have committed suicide so far this year.

Government officials are human, too, and one of the reasons for their suicides is, like other groups, high and unbearable pressure.

However, unlike ordinary people, only 37 percent of officials who commit suicide are confirmed to have been suffering from psychological or other pressure; instead a high percentage of them were suspected or found to have been involved in corruption.

The official who hanged himself in Nanjing was dismissed from his position in June for accepting money as "gifts" from subordinate branches. Dong Xuegang, an official from Yuncheng in North China's Shanxi province, was another official suspected of being involved in bribery who took his own life.

Officials have even committed suicide after they were placed under investigation or been prosecuted in court. In such cases, suicide has become a tool for corrupt officials to escape the disciplinary investigation and litigation procedure.

According to China's Criminal Law, prosecution against a suspect ends when the suspect dies; if somebody is already being prosecuted the case should be withdrawn. Combined with the principle that one is not guilty unless convicted by the People's Court, death therefore has turned out to be a way for corrupt officials, as it has for other suspects, to escape from being convicted of their crimes.

Besides, China has a long-time cultural tradition of respecting the dead and avoiding talking about their wrongs. There is no clear rule, but in practice, the disciplinary and other investigations against a corrupt official will also end in the event of their death.

By escaping from judicial and possibly disciplinary penalties once and for all, the officials suspected of corruption can not only preserve their titles and honor, but also preserve the material gains they have made for their families, since their illegal income will no longer be confiscated. Considering the astonishing sums of money an official can obtain through corruption, that's a good deal for them and their families.

The psychology of such kinds of officials is similar to that of "naked officials", who make dirty money at home for their families living abroad. Both sacrifice themselves for the family.

Actually the phenomenon appeared and aroused the attention of scholars several years ago, but it did not get widespread public attention until the Internet became popular. In The Female Prosecutor, a 2007 TV series, a corrupt official tries to leave the fortune he has made to his family by committing suicide. The TV series was actually based on true cases.

The suicides of corrupt officials cause huge losses to China's anti-graft efforts, because a large part of their illegal gains will not be confiscated, while more corrupt officials might follow suit to benefit their families.

Worse, in group corruption cases, corrupt officials can also terminate leads to further investigations by committing suicide. If a key witness dies, a higher official might be able to evade being brought to book for his crimes, which cause more damage to China's politics. Measures are needed to close that loophole.

But even so, it is still difficult for corrupt officials to take their lives and their decision-making process is often quite long. That means the efficiency of anti-graft investigations must also be raised, so that judicial procedure, in which suspects are under better control, which makes it harder for them to commit suicide, can begin earlier before corrupt officials make up their minds to take their own lives.

It might be difficult to change the principles such as ending prosecution against dead suspects, but at least disciplinary investigations should continue against them, and dig deep into the their background. Their wealth should also be investigated and the illegal parts properly dealt with. Only when corrupt officials realize that committing suicide will no longer protect their illegal income will they give up the idea.

The author is a professor on anti-graft studies at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC.