In this photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009, suspects involved in mafia-style gangs are escorted …
After she refused a corrupt cop's demand that she turn her teahouse into an illegal casino, three thugs beat Chen Yanling with electric batons, sending her to the hospital for nearly a month.
Chen is now getting some vicarious revenge, joining the throngs outside a courthouse where modern-day China's biggest, most lurid mob trials are under way.
The trials are exposing sordid, deep-seated connections between organized crime and corrupt officials and police in the central mega-city of Chongqing, once known as Chungking. Among the suspects: the 46-year-old sister-in-law of the city's deputy police chief, who is accused of running 20 illegal gambling halls, all protected by the police.
Labeled the godmother of the Chongqing underworld, Xie Caiping's profanity-laced testimony drew a rebuke from the judge last week, but delighted the public, which reveled in tales in the local media that she kept 16 lovers.
Such salacious details and more — the lowly paid deputy police chief acquired a $4.4 million villa with his ill-gotten gains — have been given unusually riveting coverage by the state media, which normally shrinks from revelations of corruption that touch the ruling Communist Party.
On Wednesday, six gang members were sentenced to death for crimes including murder and blackmail, the first among hundreds expected to go on trial. Twenty-five others accused of belonging to "mafia-style" organizations were given sentences ranging from one to 18 years in prison.
The proceedings at the city's No. 5 Intermediate People's Court have drawn hundreds each day, among them victims like teahouse owner Chen, who was attacked three years ago and came to watch as handcuffed suspects wearing bright orange vests were escorted to trial.
"Although my case hasn't been solved yet, I already feel better. Many people who know my situation told me 'Chen Yanling, the day you've waited so long for has finally come. You're finally liberated,'" Chen said. (AP)
