BEIJING — Wen Qiang, the former judicial chief of Chongqing municipality who was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday for corruption, spent his last few days in jail watching the World Cup and reading a kungfu novel.
Wen’s convictions included accepting bribes, shielding criminal gangs, rape and failing to account for his cash and assets.
On the morning of July 4, the 55-year-old soccer fan, sitting with police officers, saw a half-hour recap of the game between Germany and Argentina held the previous day. He did not believe that German could beat Argentina 4-0 and said it might be match-fixing, China Youth Daily reported on Thursday.
Then he spent nearly two hours reading a kungfu novel. After lunch, Wen once again talked with prison guards about the World Cup as well as his travel experiences to the United States and Brazil.
At 4 pm that day, Wen had a haircut. After supper, the kungfu fiction fan talked with police officers on the writing skills of three modern Chinese-language kungfu novelists — Louis Cha, Gu Long and Liang Yusheng.
After the “pleasant” talk, Wen watched a TV show on the World Cup. He often commented on what the program had said and gave his views on matches, the report cited police officers as saying.
The next morning, Wen was notified by the Chongqing municipal commission for discipline inspection that he had been expelled from the Party and removed from his post. Hearing the news, Wen seemed emotional and tears came into his eyes, police officers recalled.
On July 6, Wen looked uneasy. His normal mood returned after Wang Lijun, the police chief of the city, came to visit and talk to him in the afternoon.
At night, Wen asked for police officers to turn on the TV. The semifinal between the Netherlands and Uruguay would be staged early Wednesday morning.
At 5:10 am Wednesday, Wen was woken up. He looked blank. After washing his face and taking pills at an extraordinarily slow pace, he turned down a face-to-face interview request from a China Youth Daily reporter.
“I am not well prepared for any questions,” Wen said, looking quite old and tired.
At 6:55 am, Wen was taken to the Chongqing No 5 Intermediate People’s Court where he was told that his execution had been approved by the Supreme People’s Court and he would be executed immediately.
Hearing the announcement, Wen looked peaceful, the report cited people at the scene as saying.
About half an hour later, Wen met his son and elder sister. He told his son to behave himself and not blame society.
Around 9:10 am, Wen was given a lethal injection, and the life of the city’s once most powerful judicial official ended.
