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.
They had the right to indict her. But it will be the court to decide eventually if she’s guilty or not
“My mother will surely be given a fair and just verdict,” wrote Qu, 32, who is dating Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson, 51.