07/09/10
From the People's Daily (China)
Former official executed by lethal injection
"Time Wounds All Heels"
| Wen Qiang, the former top justice official in the
southwestern city of Chongqing, was executed on Wednesday for
corruption. Wen, 55, was the highest ranking official among 100 caught in the city's massive crackdown on violent gangs and the corrupt officials who protect them. The Municipal High People's Court on May 21 rejected an appeal by Wen, who was sentenced to death by a lower court on April 14 for accepting bribes, shielding criminal gangs, rape and failing to account for both his cash and assets. Wen served as the city's deputy police chief from 1992 to 2008 and later as the justice chief until he was arrested in September 2009. The death sentence had been forwarded to the Supreme People's Court and was approved, according to a statement released by the Municipal High People's Court at 10:45am on Wednesday. The statement did not specify the time of execution, nor how the execution was to be carried out. Local media reported that Wen received a lethal injection. Before the execution, Wen met his sister, Wen Wanqin, and his son, Wen Jiahao, early on Wednesday, Caijing magazine reported on its website. During the less than 10-minute hearing at the No 5 Intermediate People's Court, Wen told his son: "You have to behave yourself, be a good man and do not blame society." Wen also told his son that "your father is guilty", the report said, citing Wen Wanqin. Hearing the news of Wen's execution, some local residents lit firecrackers or held banners that read "Wen's execution, Chongqing's stability" at the gates of the Municipal High People's Court and the municipal Communist Party Committee. Several local residents China Daily randomly interviewed in the street said they all received mobile phone messages about Wen's execution around 11 am.
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