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Emergency medical center set for corruption suspects

By Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-20 07:46

The front gate of Haidian procuratorate. Inset: Inside of the health center. wang jing and zhang yan / China daily

The first medical center to address health and psychological issues of officials suspected of corruption has received 15 "customers", a chief anti-corruption prosecutor of Haidian district said.

Haidian prosecutors' office opened the emergency treatment center at the end of 2008 to prevent health and security incidents of officials under investigation, Zhang Lei, the head of anti-corruption department of Haidian district procuratorate, told METRO.

He said it handled 60 corruption cases from the start of last year, involving people from either State-owned enterprises or government offices. Among the 60 suspects, 15 had to be provided with medical assistance.

"The suspects are usually under intense pressure and stress, feel extremely nervous and could easily suffer from heart attacks and cardiovascular diseases during the inquiry," Zhang said.

In 2008, a woman who was once the finance head of Beijing Sports University was being investigated for embezzling 750,000 yuan. During the inquiry, she had a heart attack and fell off her chair.

Prosecutors, uncertain how to deal with the situation, rang the hospital. It took 40 minutes for help to arrive and by that time, the suspect was in a dangerous condition.

Fortunately, she responded well to treatment in hospital. She was later convicted and sentenced to six years in prison.

Her husband said she had had heart disease for some time and could have died if she had not been treated in time.

"If we can't handle these problems in time, they can easily lead to security accidents in handling the cases and bring about unnecessary social conflicts," Zhang said.

In October 2008, Haidian procuratorate signed an agreement with Haidian Medical Rescue Center to ensure that older or weaker suspects could get the prompt medical attention, Zhang said.

About 1.2 million yuan has been spent to build a special underground room in the charge area to provide emergency medical services.

"Our staff have received training to provide initial treatment in some emergencies before the doctors arrive," he said.

The room has padded walls, floors and door handles.

"We want to prevent suspects from attacking prosecutors, harming themselves or worse, committing suicide," he said.

Other security measures include giving suspects only plastic bowls and soft spoons to use and not providing boiling water or food with bones.

Prosecutors are also told not to stand in front of suspects when they sign forms in case they use the pen as a weapon.

Zhang said in the past, it would take at least 40 minutes for an ambulance - with two doctors and a nurse on board - to arrive. That has now been cut to 10 minutes.

If suspects have a long history of illness, doctors would be asked to wait outside during the inquiry.

"But suspects pretending to be ill and refusing to confess may face heavier charges," Zhang said.

Zhang said one of the first cases the new center handled took place in March last year involved a man, surnamed Hu in his 70s from Beijing Qingyun Airline Instrument Company, a State-owned company.

Hu, who had been accused of taking a 2 million yuan bribe, had been suffering from hypertension for long time, Zhang said.

During the inquiry, Hu said he felt uncomfortable and found it difficult to breathe.

Prosecutors contacted the center, and Hu was transferred to the medical service room where doctors confirmed his hypertension was exacerbated by pressure and emotions over the case.

After being given hypertension drugs, Hu improved. Hu's wife appreciated the response.

Hu has been charged with the corruption and is waiting trial.