Prison tours a warning to officials

Government officials and their spouses tours local prisons to visit convicted officials and to raise their awareness of corruption in Shiyan, Hubei province, on May 15. [Photo/CFP]

Government officials and their spouses in key sectors have been given tours of local prisons to visit convicted officials and to raise their awareness of corruption, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on Sunday.

This month, more than 70 Party chiefs, senior officials and their spouses in Shiyan, Hubei province, visited ex-officials in the city prison and spent a day in jail as an educational warning.

During the visit, they saw 15 ex-officials, including their former leaders and colleagues, who were convicted on charges ranging from abuse of power to accepting bribes. Photos of them wearing prison clothes or being interrogated were hanging on the wall, according to city prison officials.

"It's a striking image to have watched the ex-officials' showing their deep repentance while they serve their sentences in prison," said one of the senior Shiyan officials who visited the prison and declined to reveal his name.

"We should draw lessons from corruption cases and strictly adhere to Party rules and laws to perform our duties and better serve the public."

According to the CCDI, the prison visits were organized to remind the officials to "be aware of wrongdoings involving corruption, correctly exercise their powers and actively receive supervision from the Party."

Since Nov 2012, when the new leadership was elected, President Xi Jinping has conducted a widening drive to fight against corruption nationwide. To date, more than 100 high-ranking officials－ministerial-or provincial-level or above－have been placed under investigation for alleged graft issues.

Four of the 100 high-placed "tigers" probed for investigation were former State leaders, including Zhou Yongkang, the former security chief charged with corruption.

Since the anti-corruption campaign began, authorities have attached great importance to sending officials to prisons or revolutionary bases to receive education and warnings.

In August, more than 200 senior officials from the National Development and Reform Commission were taken to Beijing Prison and Beijing Yancheng Prison.

On Friday, 50 spouses of county-level officials in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, wore Red Army clothing to Ruijin revolutionary bases to receive training.

They visited the integrity educational base of the CCDI and revolutionary sites to further understand the important roles they play in the supervision of the integrity of their husbands, and to build a line of defense to prevent them from becoming corrupt.