To September this year, a total of 1,980 officials were investigated by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

One police officer was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to follow up a nine-year-old's abduction and rape, the SPP announced on Sunday.

In May this year, Wu Zhigang was on duty when the girl's parents called to report that a man had broken into their home in Changning, Hunan Province and abducted her. Wu was given the assignment, but failed to either deal with the case or report it to his superiors.

Later that night, the girl returned home after having been raped, but Wu again failed to go after the suspect. On May 27, Wu was put on file for investigation and on June 7 was prosecuted for dereliction of duty.

Six police officers from Nanchong, Sichuan Province were also investigated for ignoring local meat vendors who purchased diseased pork. Chen Bo, Tian Jintai, Sun Hemin, Liu Lin, Tang Jianguo and Tan Wengao were sentenced to between one and two years in prison.

Three local environmental protection officials in Chengdu, also in Sichuan, were also punished for dereliction of duty. Song Shiying, Zhang Ming and Zhang Shan had hidden the fact that Tuojiang River had been severely polluted with industrial wastewater from nearby factories, causing direct economic losses worth 219 million yuan (US$26 million).

The SPP said that these investigations and convictions demonstrate their resolution to crack down on job-related crimes and to protect human rights.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2004)