July 31st, 2012
Translated by Zhang Dian

On July 30 it was reported that 61 civil servants in Funing (阜宁) County of Jiangsu Province who had been on probation were re-employed by the government in 2009.

On his microblog, a famous netizen named Zhou Xiaoyun (周筱赟) released a partial name list of the officials. All of those listed were sentenced for accepting bribes, but were re-instated to civil service jobs. Some have been working as leaders while others were put on retirement and have been receiving pension payments. There were even several who were being paid without actually doing any work.

The Funing County government responded to Zhao confirming that 61 officials had gained their positions back after investigation and assessment. “They are qualified to be given jobs in accordance with our policy,” the government said.

The Jiangsu Department of Personnel announced in 2004 that any officials put on probation or imprisoned should be dismissed. However, the policy said nothing about officials sentenced before Nov. 11, 2004, so this was taken as a loophole meaning they could be re-hired after their probation ended.

A document issued by the Funing County government in 2009 required that relevant institutions and departments provide jobs for the 61 officials sentenced before Nov. 11, 2004.

“Although the 61 officials got jobs in 2009, they were sentenced to probation before 2004. Therefore, these people can do as they did in the past,” said a Funing official.

Wang Tiegen, Secretary of the local Discipline Inspection Commission, said that investigations were being made about whether any re-employed officials got paid without doing work. Wang promised that it would not be long before the truth was revealed.

Links and Sources
The Beijing News: 阜宁61名缓刑人员被安置工作