Officials Involved in Death Scandal PunishedOfficials had been punished for their misconduct in the death scandal on July 11 this year in Yongshan County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Two of the officials have been dismissed from their posts and five others have been punished within the Party.The Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China made this announcement at a press conference December 7. On July 11 this year, Du Mingxiang, chief of the Township-run Enterprise Bureau of Yongshan County, dined eight colleagues at a local night club, and paid for the meal with public funds. Du died of alcohol poisoning in the evening. Du's family forced the night club proprietor to make amends for his death, leading the proprietor of the club to commit suicide. The director and deputy director of the county's Public Security Bureau were dismissed from their posts for not preventing the actions of Du's family and the five other officials were punished for neglecting to perform their duties, especially in regard to Du's misuse of public funds. The eight officials that accompanied Du on the night were also punished last November. This scandal has received much attention from the Yunnan Provincial government, which plans to launch an investigation into the misuse of public funds in the near future. |
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