A woman who was in detention for her involvement in a case of Liu Yong, an executed notorious gang head, sued a leading newspaper for what she said defamatory calling, referring that she was addressed as a paramour of Liu.

Jiao Meigui was former vice director of the Intermediate People's Court of Shenyang, capital of northwest China's Liaoning Province. She was removed from the post and was arrested for her connection with the gang led by Liu in Shenyang.

Liu, the mafia kingpin, was sentenced to death in April 2002. He ran roughshod over China's fifth largest city for a decade, hiring policemen to torture rivals and pummel shopkeepers who refused to surrender their property. His gang used threats, beatings, arson and vandalism to scare off vendors from real estate he sought to develop, and blackmailed officials.

Liu bribed officials for protection and power and became a legislator of Shenyang's parliament. But he later became the subject of a police manhunt after he pistol-whipped a top police officer in 1992. Liu's downfall led to massive investigations of local top officials in close contact with him, including Jiao.

The China Youth Daily published a report unveiling Liu's illegal rising to power with the help of corrupt officials, in which Jiao was called as paramour of Liu. The report was carried by the newspaper Bandao Morning based in Shenyang. Jiao sued the Bandao Morning in Oct. 2002 over defamation accusation, but was told the original source was from the China Youth Daily.

Jiao entrusted her elder sister to contact the youth daily, and later sent written documents on Aug. 22, 2003 to negotiate a solution, but all she did was ignored by the newspaper, which gave no response.

She then filed lawsuit with the People's Court of Beijing's Dongcheng District where the newspaper is located, to charge the newspaper of slandering, asking a public apology from the newspaper and the compensation of 200,000 yuan (US$24,000).

Jiao was currently detained in a women's prison in Liaoning, and the date of court hearing on her suit against the newspaper has not been given.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2004)