SPP announces spike in prosecutions of criminal suspects

Procuratorial organs nationwide approved the arrests of 645,000 people accused of committing various criminal offenses from January to November last year, a year-on-year increase of 37.2 percent, according to data released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate at its annual work conference on Sunday.

More than 1.5 million people were prosecuted during the period, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.1 percent.

The data also showed that some 12,000 individuals were prosecuted for their alleged involvement in organized crimes; 42,000 for telecom fraud; and 16,000 for online gambling.

Procuratorates also collaborated with other departments to prevent and resolve financial crimes. About 23,000 suspects were prosecuted on accusations of financial fraud and of disrupting financial management order across the country during the January to November period.

The SPP, the National Supervisory Commission and the Ministry of Public Security jointly established a mechanism to enhance their collaboration on efforts to combat money laundering while handling corruption cases. These efforts led to the prosecution of 2,435 individuals who were allegedly involved in the crime, a 16.6 percent year-on-year increase.

In addition, procuratorates nationwide accepted 20,000 individuals who were transferred by various supervisory commissions after being accused of duty-related crimes, 9.6 percent more than during the same period in 2022, and 16,000 of them have been prosecuted.

In bribery cases, the approach of investigating both the briber and the recipient led to the prosecution of 2,306 individuals, an 18.1 percent year-on-year increase.

According to the SPP, efforts were also made to implement a system allowing for lenient punishment for those who plead guilty, with the application rate for the arrangement exceeding 90 percent at the prosecutorial stage and the acceptance rate of procuratorates' sentencing recommendations reaching 97.1 percent.

In cases where minor crimes were involved and arrests were not made, procuratorates and other departments also explored monitoring measures such as electronic bracelets.

Procuratorial organs at all levels should improve the swift handling of minor crimes, better connect administrative and criminal punishment, and work harder to resolve conflicts involving multiple parties, said Ying Yong, the procurator-general of SPP.