Top Chinese safety official receives life sentence for accepting $91 million bribe

Another high Chinese safety official was on Friday sentenced to demise with a two-year reprieve by a courtroom for corruption, a day after two senior officers had been punished for graft and abuse of energy amid reviews of a purge of a “political clique” that opposed President Xi Jinping getting a file third time period in workplace at subsequent month’s ruling Communist Party Congress.

Sun Lijun, former vice minister of public safety, who was accused of heading a “political clique” against Xi was sentenced to demise with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes, manipulating the inventory market and illegally possessing firearms.

Sun was additionally disadvantaged of his political rights for all times, and all his private property had been confiscated, the Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun in northeast China’s Jilin Province mentioned.

Sun, 53, was accused of main a “political clique” and being disloyal to Xi, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

Sun’s sentencing got here after 5 former police chiefs who had been implicated in his corruption case had been jailed earlier this week, indicating that the largest purge in China’s safety equipment over the past 5 years is drawing to a detailed, the report mentioned.

The purge comes forward of a significant management reshuffle on the Communist Party Congress that begins on October 16, the place Xi, who’s finishing his 10-year tenure later this yr, is anticipated to endorse a file third five-year time period for him. All his predecessors retired after 10-year tenures.

On Thursday, the identical courtroom sentenced two senior Chinese safety officers, together with a robust former justice minister, to demise with a two-year reprieve.

Fu Zhenghua, former Justice Minister and considered one of China’s strongest police chiefs was sentenced to demise with a two-year reprieve for indulging in corruption amounting to USD 17.3 million and abuse of energy.

Hours later, the identical courtroom gave an analogous sentence to former Jiangsu official Wang Like. He was additionally sentenced to demise with a two-year reprieve for bribery, conniving with prison gangs and faking id playing cards, official media right here reported.

Wang is a former member of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee Communist Party of China (CPC) and former secretary of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee politics and legislation committee, state-run People’s Daily on-line reported.

On Friday courtroom mentioned it was established that Sun obtained cash and valuables totalling greater than USD 92.39 million by making the most of varied positions he held between 2001 and April 2020.

The courtroom additionally mentioned Sun manipulated inventory buying and selling within the first half of 2018 and illegally possessed two weapons.

The courtroom mentioned that Sun was granted a lenient sentence, contemplating that he had supplied investigators with clues to different main instances, contributing to a significant meritorious service for the investigation, and had confessed to all of his crimes, together with some acts of bribe-taking that investigators weren’t initially conscious of.

He had proven repentance and had been cooperative in returning his unlawful beneficial properties, the courtroom added.

After the two-year reprieve for his demise sentence, Sun’s sentence could be commuted to life in jail in accordance with the legislation, however no additional discount or parole shall be given to him, the courtroom mentioned.

The anti-corruption marketing campaign began by Xi, 69, after he got here to energy in 2012 despatched shock-waves throughout China as over one million officers, together with dozens of high army officers, had been punished.

If endorsed for a 3rd time period, he would be the first CPC chief after founder Mao Zedong to proceed in energy past two phrases and maybe for all times.

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