AN investigation by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) into the treatment of officials involved in mining disasters revealed that 95.6 per cent of all officials charged with dereliction of duty or abuse of power were either given a suspended sentence or received no punishment at all.

The SPP's Investigation of Dereliction of Duty Office reported that in 2006, out of 629 suspects in mine disaster cases, 307 people were investigated, of those nine were not brought to trial, 249 were tried and of those, 131 (52.6 per cent) were found guilty but were given no punishment, 107 (43 per cent) received suspended sentences, two were found not guilty. Only nine people (3.6 per cent) were given a custodial sentence. Criminal proceedings have been brought against a further 113 individuals but, as of the end of 2006, the courts were still deliberating.

In the most famous case of 2006, the fatal flooding of the Xinjing Coal Mine in Zuoyun County, Shanxi on May 18, which killed 56 workers, 12 officials were tried, nine received suspended sentences and the other three escaped with no punishment.

The subsequent outrage in the Chinese media forced a retrial in February 2007 at which, according to the People's Daily, Liu Yongxin, the former township chief, was sentenced to 12 years for abuse of power, negligence and a new charge of bribery. In the original trial, Liu had been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for 18 months. Chang Rui, former Party Secretary of the township was sentenced to three years in prison, and another senior local official, Chen Xiqing, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Eight other officials will also undergo retrials, the People's Daily said.

However, this is the only significant case in which retrials have been ordered so far.  In the vast majority of cases, the SPP noted that officials and mine owners can use their local powerbase and close connections with state safety officials to protect their interests and continue to recklessly exceed safe production levels, leading to more mine accidents and more cover-ups.