Senior prosecutor pledges to maintain heavy-handed approach to punishing serious crimes

BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese prosecutor on Thursday said that a heavy-handed approach to the punishment of serious crimes such as crimes that gravely endanger national security and violent terrorist activities should not be relaxed under any circumstances.

Hou Yahui, a senior official of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), said at a press conference.

Hou said a harsh approach will also be taken in the handling of criminal cases in such areas as organized crime, the use of firearms or explosives, and cybercrime that seriously disrupts social order and the people's peace.

He also pledged severe punishments for crimes that harm specific groups such as women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

Hou stressed that a core requirement in applying the policy of balancing leniency and severity is the differentiation of circumstances. Not all light offenses are eligible for lenient punishment, whereas clemency could be given for certain heavy crimes in accordance with the law.

While a lighter approach should generally be taken when handling juvenile delinquency cases, for example, criminal prosecutions should still be pursued in certain cases, including those where a minor offender had severely malicious intentions or has a high likelihood of recidivism, as well as those involving violent crimes with particularly serious circumstances and consequences.

Cases of drunk driving should also be handled according to severity, Hou said.