12-27-2005

中國前部長被定犯有受賄罪被判無期徒刑 (Chinese Former Minister Sentenced for Life on Bribery Conviction )

北京一家法庭以收接受賄賂罪判處前中國國土資源部部長田鳳山無期徒刑。官方媒體報導說，田鳳山的全部個人財產被沒收，被剝奪政治權利終身。田鳳山被判在擔任黑龍江省省長以及後來擔任國土資源部部長期間犯有收受了相當於50多萬美元賄賂的罪行。他在2003年因腐敗問題被解除了部長職務。

美聯社報導說，田鳳山是4年來中國仍在進行的反腐行動中起訴的最高級別的官員。前中國人大常委會副委員長成克傑在2001年因受賄罪而被處死。

A Beijing court has sentenced former Minister of Land and Resources Tian Fengshan to life in prison for accepting bribes. State media report that Tian Fengshan will have all his personal assets confiscated and his political rights will be forfeited for life. Tian was convicted for accepting more than a half million dollars in bribes while he was governor of Heilongjiang Province and then Minister of Lands and Resources. He was dismissed from his ministerial post in 2003 on ethics charges.

The Associated Press reports that Tian is the highest-ranking Chinese official in four years to be prosecuted in China's ongoing anti-graft drive. Former Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Cheng Kejie was executed in 2001 after a bribery conviction.

盧武炫為兩名抗議者死亡道歉 (Roh Apologizes for Two Protesters' Deaths)

南韓總統盧武炫為兩名抗議示威者死亡公開道歉。這兩人上個月在首爾與防暴警察發生衝突時受了致命傷之後死亡。這兩名男子當時和一批種植稻米的農民一道舉行示威，反對開放南韓稻米市場並引入國際競爭。

他們11月中旬在首爾發生的衝突中受傷，幾個星期後死亡。盧武炫星期二在一次對全國廣播的新聞發佈會上做出道歉。南韓警察廳廳長許準榮表示道歉，他說，他個人覺得要為抗議者之死負責。他承諾要懲罰那些把他們兩人打成致命重傷的人。在兩名死者當中，一人頭部受到重擊，另一人被打中了脊椎。

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has publicly apologized for the deaths of two protesters who suffered fatal injuries during a clash with riot police last month in Seoul. The two men were in a group of rice farmers demonstrating against plans to open South Korea's rice market to international competition.

They died several weeks after the mid-November clash in Seoul. Roh Moo-hyun apologized to his nation during a nationally-broadcast news conference Tuesday. South Korea's police chief Huh Joon-young, who also has apologized, says he feels personally responsible for the protesters' deaths. He has promised to punish those who caused the fatal injuries -- blows to one victim's head and the other's spine.