CHINA: According to information given by a body tasked with ensuring the credibility and fairness of criminal prosecutions, in China, 8.3 million people were prosecuted between 2018 and 2022, a 12% increase from the prior given timeframe.
Reports claim that Chinese authorities have ramped up their inquiry into alleged crimes against national and public security, particularly those involving dissidents, protesters, and human rights attorneys.
In addition, new anti-espionage laws were modified this month, broadening their application in a way that, according to legal experts, could significantly raise risks for foreign individuals and organisations operating in the nation.
Foreign companies involved in due diligence and consulting have been the target of raids and arrests by the authorities, and in recent years, a large number of foreigners and Chinese people working for foreign organisations have been held in custody on the basis of national security.
Chinese courts managed to bring cases against 8.3 million people between 2018 and 2022, a 12% increase from the previous time frame. Furthermore, the number of demonstrations against court decisions increased by almost 20%.
The 1,400 national security prosecutions that took place between 2018 and 2022 and were noted in a previous SPP report were notable for being left out of an official work report.
These statistics were released in March by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), which is in charge of making sure that investigations and prosecutions are legal and fair. By doing so, it sheds light on how China’s notoriously opaque justice system has been operating lately, particularly in light of the country’s tightening domestic security environment.
In contrast to a 43.3% increase in prosecutions for internet-based offences like gambling, fraud, and the dissemination of explicit materials, Zhang Jun, the departing director of the SPP, reported a 31.7% decline in prosecutions for violent crimes.
According to the SPP, over 100 people who held provincial governance or ministerial positions were among the 78,000 officials who were brought to trial for corruption and fraud over the course of a five-year period.
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