China says an investigation into the most senior
communist official ever ensnared in a corruption scandal is still going on -
and may take a long time to complete.
The Chinese legal system is a socialist system of
law based primarily on the Civil Law model.
But the government has promised to make public the
case against the former leader Zhou Yongkang (above).
Before he retired two years ago, Mr Zhou was the
head of China's vast internal security apparatus.
He is being investigated as part of a wider campaign
against corruption.
The rare comments on the case against Mr Zhou were
given by one of China's vice-ministers of justice, Zhang Sujun, at a press
conference.
In an article carried by China's state-run Xinhua
news agency, Mr Zhang is reported to have acknowledged the intense interest in
the case.
Mr Zhou was previously a member of the Chinese
Communist Party's politburo standing committee, the country's most important
decision-making body.
Mr Zhang said investigators from the party's own
internal discipline department needed time to complete the "in-depth"
investigation.
"I believe that [the] related department will
definitely publicize the case in an appropriate measure and [through] an
appropriate channel after the investigation comes to a close," he said,
according to Xinhua.
The vice-minister said the investigation was being
carried out using proper procedures.
But China's legal system can at times work at great
speed; some suspects are tried, convicted and sentenced in just a day.
Correspondents say the length of this case - Mr Zhou
has not been seen in public in more than a year - suggests the authorities know
they have to tread carefully with an investigation into such a powerful former
leader.
The case against Zhou Yongkang is part of President
Xi Jinping's two-year campaign to weed out corruption among party and
government officials. President Xi believes corruption undermines the communist
party's support.
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