Public in scandal-laden city question petitioner's death
Updated: 2008-05-14 00:00
Li was accused of fabricating official documents and seals, embezzling nearly 1 million yuan of public funds, and making 610,000 yuan of illegal profits by reselling properties.
Li's wife argued Li, as former manager of the real estate company, had been encouraged by the district government to buy as many apartments as he could afford. He got a loan to buy 10, some of which he later leased or resold.
Li was a close friend of Zhang's father, a former county official in Fuyang. Li built up his fortune in grain and fruit trade in the 1980s and became a township official in 1995. He assisted Zhang Zhi'an, who took the top job in Yingquan in 1997, to develop trade and real estate industries but the two ended up in disputes and Li was forced to retire.
After Li died, his son found a letter he had written to Zhang from his prison in December. "It's all my fault... I'm gravely ill and I hope you'll forgive me. Please let them pass. They don't know what I've been doing," the letter reads. He didn't specify who the "they" referred to.
His son Li Denghui said the letter was found on the day of Li's death, and in the handbag of the local anti-graft chief Zheng Tao, a chief investigator in Li's case.
Until late April, Li Denghui still received warnings from the local government that he should "stop making trouble", he said.
The case has aroused public concern over the safety of petitioners. "We still lack an effective legal system to protect petitioners and witnesses to crimes," said Wang Haiyan, an associate professor with China University of Political Science and Law.
In the recent five years, nationwide procuratorates have received more than 1 million petitions from the public and cracked down on at least 1,000 cases involving revenges on petitioners, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
Fuyang City, with a population of 9.3 million in the northwest of Anhui Province, suffered the most from recent outbreak of enterovirus 71 and 22 children died.
In 2003, the city was accused of covering up a scandal over low-quality milk powder that killed at least 12 babies.
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