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Vancouver-based pop star Wanting Qu (right), and her mother, Qu Zhang Mingjie, who is accused of corruption and faces the possible death penalty in China. Photo: CTV

Wanting Qu, pop star girlfriend of Vancouver mayor, says she trusts Chinese justice as mother faces possible execution

‘My mother will surely be given a fair and just verdict’, says singer Wanting Qu, as mainland prosecutors push for death penalty in 350m yuan corruption case

Vancouver-based pop star Wanting Qu, the girlfriend of the city’s mayor, has released a carefully legalistic statement on the plight of her mother, saying she trusts Chinese justice, after it was revealed that mainland prosecutors want the death penalty for the former Harbin city official.

Qu Zhang Mingjie, 60, who was in charge of a major 2009 transfer of state land in Heilongjiang that allegedly saw it illicitly end up in the hands of a property developer, is accused of embezzling 350 million yuan (C$69 million, US$53 million), bribery and abusing power.

The South China Morning Post’s Hongcouver blog, citing state media accounts of her July 19-20 trial, reported on Tuesday that Zhang’s prosecutors want her executed.

In a statement issued in Chinese on the Weibo social media platform, Wanting Qu said on Wednesday evening that “I trust the court and the law”.
A statement issued by singer Wanting Qu on Weibo on July 27, 2016, in which she says she trusts Chinese justice regarding her mother's corruption trial. Photo: Weibo
They had the right to indict her. But it will be the court to decide eventually if she’s guilty or not
Wanting Qu, on her mother’s graft case

“My mother will surely be given a fair and just verdict,” wrote Qu, 32, who is dating Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, 51.

Zhang’s lawyer has said the case against her is based on an illegally obtained confession. She has pleaded not guilty.

“I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my fans and netizens who have followed and supported my mother in her case,” wrote Qu. “350 million yuan was what the procuratorate said my mother had embezzled. They had the right to indict her. But it will be the court to decide eventually if she’s guilty or not.

A photo taken inside Harbin City Intermediate People's Court on July 19 shows Qu Zhang Mingjie (right) and co-accused Wang Shaoyu at their corruption trial. Inset is Qu Zhang Mingjie with daughter Wanting Qu. Photo: Harbin City Intermediate People's Court / Weibo
Wanting Qu with boyfriend Gregor Robertson, mayor of Vancouver. Photo: Instagram
“Articles 123 and 129 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China as well as Article 12 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the PRC provide that the People’s Courts are the judicial organs of the State and that the People’s Procuratorates are state organs for legal supervision. No person shall be found guilty without being judged as such by a People’s Court according to law.”

Qu concluded by saying: “I trust the court and the law... Once again, I sincerely thank all of you for encouraging me in this period of time. Thank you!” She signed off with a prayer emoji.

Qu has previously paid tribute to her mother in song, last week releasing a single Your Girl and alluding to Zhang’s detention in Heilongjiang in promotional material. “Though I haven’t been able to talk to her, feel her or reach her in any way in the last two years, I know deep down in my heart, there’s a place that’s warm like the sun and bright like the moon. It’s a place for a daughter like me and a mother like her.”
Qu Zhang Mingjie (left) with daughter Wanting Qu. Photo: Weibo

Zhang is alleged to have conspired with a real estate developer to doctor the terms of the transfer of a state-owned farm, splitting the profits. Chinese media reports said the alleged scam left hundreds of impoverished live-in workers in appalling conditions, as the farm’s new owners halted health and pension benefits, withheld resettlement payments, and shut down heating for their dormitories in the bitterly cold region.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Star prays as prosecutors seek ‘corrupt’ mum’s death
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