热点英语新闻1：江苏女辅警敲诈勒索案 官方回应七公职人员被处分

Police Officer Who Used Sex to Extort Millions From Officials Shocks China

江苏女辅警敲诈勒索案 官方回应七公职人员被处分

extorted
v. 敲诈
to get (money, etc.) from someone by violence, threats, misuse of authority, etc.

extortion n. 敲诈
extortive adj. 敲诈的，勒索的

词组
extort from 向…敲诈
extort confessions by torture 刑讯逼供

例句
A blackmailer extorted thousands of dollars from the millionaire.
敲诈者向百万富翁勒索了数千美元。

The police used torture to extort a confession from him.
警察对他用刑逼供。


lenient
adj. 仁慈的，宽大的
(of punishment or a person in authority) permissive, merciful, or tolerant.

leniency n. 宽大，仁慈
leniently adv. 温和地，仁慈地

词组
lenient sentence 轻判
lenient standard 宽松标准

例句
The judge was far too lenient with him.
法官对他太宽容了。

There is little evidence that harsher punishments deter any better than more lenient ones.
甚少证据显示严惩比宽大更能遏止犯罪。


verdict
n. 裁决，裁定
A decision on a disputed issue in a civil or criminal case or an inquest.

词组
open verdict 存疑裁决
directed verdict 直接判决

例句    
Verdicts should represent the conscience of the community and not just the letter of the law.
裁决应该代表社会的良知，而不仅仅是法律条文。

The foreman was asked by the clerk whether the jurors had reached verdicts on which they all agreed.
书记员问陪审团主席是不是陪审员们已作出了全体一致的裁决。

 


Chinese netizens have been rocked by the revelation that a young police officer from the country’s eastern Jiangsu province extorted 3.7 million yuan or close to $570,000 from numerous local officials by threatening to reveal the affairs she had with them. A court verdict revealed that that 26-year-old Xu Yan extorted cash from nine officials from early 2014 to 2019.

And how have the authorities responded to all of this?

Well, Xu has now been fined 5 million yuan, and she’s also looking at some serious jail time. She’s been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

But this is not where the story ends. Xu is appealing and the case is heading for a second trial.

And on what grounds is Xu appealing?

Well, that’s not fully clear but, let’s just say, some are arguing that the law came down too heavily on the policewoman, but seemed to be rather lenient on some of the men she was involved with.

Do you have examples of such men getting off lightly?

Sure. Let’s talk about a deputy police chief by the surname of Liu.

According to the court verdict, Liu and Xu were first in a relationship in 2016. That relationship lasted for 2 months, coming to an end after the policewoman demanded 200,000 yuan from Liu. At the time, she threatened Liu, saying that her own mother would make trouble at his workplace because her mother knew that Xu was pregnant. However, the pair rekindled a roughly year-long affair in March 2018. But the relationship eventually ran its course after Xu once again extorted Liu, this time demanding over 1 million yuan from him as compensation after suffering a miscarriage.

And while all of Xu’s extortion may make her look bad, it turns out that Liu himself was involved in some shady business.

What do you mean?

Well, a local court ruled that Liu was accepting bribes amounting to nearly 750,000 yuan. In exchange, he provided preferential treatment to hotels, entertainment venues, massage parlors and firework stores. Out of all these ill-gotten funds, 240,000 yuan was ultimately given to Xu.

And the list of Liu’s dodgy shenanigans gets longer. He also interfered in cases being handled by other police officers. Liu also once improperly approved bail for someone accused of providing a venue for prostitution. And he ended up pleading guilty to all charges.

So what was his punishment?

Well, early last year he was fined 200,000 yuan and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Now, that’s clearly a far shorter sentence than what Xu is facing.

But that’s not the only controversial aspect of Xu’s sentencing. After her arrest, the policewoman cooperated with the authorizes and confessed her crime. She was, therefore, granted official leniency by the court, but despite all this still ended up being sentenced to 13 years in prison.

In light of this heavy punishment and all the scrutiny on Chinese social media, Xu’s father has hit back. In an interview with online media outlet Red Star, the policewoman’s father said quote “If they said my daughter was blackmailing them, why not report it to the police at that time ― some of them are policemen. The fault is not solely my daughter’s” end quote.

Ok thanks! Well, we’ll keep our listeners updated with how Xu’s appeal efforts go.