Post by cenydd on Sept 5, 2013 10:56:33 GMT
A provincial Chinese official who shot to internet fame last year after he was photographed grinning at the scene of a grisly bus crash has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption, state media has reported.
Before last August, Yang Dacai was just another nameless official – the head of the Shaanxi province work safety administration, specifically. But then photographs showing him smiling at the scene of a road accident – a collision between a bus and a tanker carrying methanol that killed 36 people — went viral on Sina Weibo, the country's most popular microblog. Some Weibo users, incensed by Yang's apparent callousness, retaliated by posting photographs of the official wearing luxury timepieces that he could not possibly afford on his public servant's salary. One user nicknamed him "Brother Wristwatch," and the appellation quickly became a symbol of official extravagance in newspapers and internet forums.
Prosecutors concluded that Yang had been unable to explain the provenance of £527,000 in dubious assets and last month he pleaded guilty to taking £26,000 in bribes. Yang was stripped of his post and accused of "serious wrongdoing" last year, soon after the photographs went viral.
Before last August, Yang Dacai was just another nameless official – the head of the Shaanxi province work safety administration, specifically. But then photographs showing him smiling at the scene of a road accident – a collision between a bus and a tanker carrying methanol that killed 36 people — went viral on Sina Weibo, the country's most popular microblog. Some Weibo users, incensed by Yang's apparent callousness, retaliated by posting photographs of the official wearing luxury timepieces that he could not possibly afford on his public servant's salary. One user nicknamed him "Brother Wristwatch," and the appellation quickly became a symbol of official extravagance in newspapers and internet forums.
Prosecutors concluded that Yang had been unable to explain the provenance of £527,000 in dubious assets and last month he pleaded guilty to taking £26,000 in bribes. Yang was stripped of his post and accused of "serious wrongdoing" last year, soon after the photographs went viral.
www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/china-brother-wristwatch-yang-dacai-sentenced
Perhaps, given their continuing attempts to stamp out corruption, the Chinese authorities will start to see some benefit in social media and unrestricted internet access! He sounds like a pretty unpleasant and uncaring individual anyway.