国内英语新闻:Gang trials in southwest China city open, just and transparent: judge

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The gang-related trials in southwest China's Chongqing were carried out in an open, just and transparent way, Qian Feng, president of the Higher People's Court of Chongqing, said here Friday.

Qian made the remarks when attending a panel meeting of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, in Beijing.

"The crackdown on gangs was just one of the judicial work highlights in Chongqing last year," Qian said while attending the meeting. "The number of gang-related cases and those involved was relatively low in Chongqing compared with the country's figures."

"We heard those cases strictly according to the criminal law ," Qian said.

He said more than 200 deputies to legislatures at different levels and hundreds of journalists heard the court proceedings of those cases, particularly the case of Wen Qiang, a former judicial chief of the municipality.

Chongqing started a sweeping crackdown against organized crimes in the city in June last year, in which more than 3,300 suspects were arrested.

A total of 87 officials were prosecuted after the massive crackdown for being related with gangs, including 12 high-ranking officials.