CRI听力:China Vows to Protect Young Offenders and Victims in Criminal Cases

The Supreme People's Procuratorate revealed 10 cases involving youth at a press conference on Friday.

In one case, a 17-year-old suspect in Jiangsu province was found guilty of theft.

He began to contemplate suicide after his case was mistakenly made public, which put him under great pressure.

The teenager later gave up on killing himself after getting help from psychologists invited by local prosecutors.

Zhang Zhijie with the supreme prosecuting authority says handling of cases involving minors requires special attention.

"The protection of privacy of young offenders is of great importance in such cases. Taking this case for example, psychological intervention was timely while local authorities were urged to abide regulations and take concrete measures to prevent the leak of the young suspects' information. All of these were aimed at educating the young offenders while helping them keep confident of the future."

The other cases highlighted the protection of young victims of violence, parents stripped of guardianship for doing violence to their children, and officials punished for duty-related crimes in handling minors' cases.

Zhang Zhijie says these cases show the prosecuting authority's determination against youth-targeted crimes.

"These cases are expected to tell prosecutors across the country how to handle similar cases, warn of similar crimes and also increase public awareness of the protection of minors' rights."

At the press conference, officials also addressed school bullying that has been on a rise in China.

A survey last year showed more than 73 percent of 1,000 students polled nationwide came across school bullying, whether verbal or physical.

There have been suggestions that harsher penalties for offenders in bullying cases are needed, against the backdrop of increasing numbers of incidents, as well as escalating violence and cruelty.

In response, Shi Weizhong of the top prosecuting body vows to take steps to address the problem.

"Prosecutors nationwide have been required to highlight education while dealing with such bullying cases instead of only relying on punishments. But it doesn't mean young offenders in such cases can be exempt from criminal penalties."

Shi says prosecutors will work closer with police, families, schools and institutions to rein in the spread of violence in schools.

He also suggested government-run corrective facilities for teenagers will play a bigger role in educating young violent offenders when it's necessary.

For CRI, this is Niu Honglin.