How the first case was cracked

Jin Xiaodong, head of the Shangcheng district supervisory commission in Hangzhou, received his first case about a month after his commission was set up in February last year.

Yu Jianjun, a civil servant in the district housing maintenance department, was suspected of abuse of power and embezzling public funds to gamble, repay debts and buy luxuries.

Yu was neither a Party member nor a government official, but he was under supervision by Jin’s team because the supervisory system established in pilot form in Zhejiang province in late 2016 encompassed all civil servants.

“It took us only 33 days to complete the investigation with high efficiency and successfully send him to Shangcheng prosecutors to be charged,” Jin said.

Mao Mingxiu, deputy director of the district supervisory commission, said his team was cautious about ordering Yu’s detention in April and strictly followed the regulations to better protect his rights.

According to the protocols they operate under, a suspect can be put under detention for investigation for a maximum of three months, although that can be doubled under special circumstances, and a detainee’s family must be notified of their detention within 24 hours. Meanwhile, synchronous voice and video recording is required during interrogation.

Yu was convicted of corruption in December.