A former senior Chinese police official received a suspended death sentence on Friday for corruption, a court heard, adding to a long string of similar sentences this week. Sun Lijun, 53, is a former vice minister of public security. He had pleaded guilty during his trial held in July and his name was cited in numerous cases.
His death sentence will be commuted to life in prison after two years of imprisonment, the Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun, capital of Jilin Province (northeast), announced in a statement.
Strengthening the power of Xi Jinping
Chinese authorities announced several convictions of senior officials this week, ahead of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress, a highly sensitive political event that will take place in mid-October.
The most important political meeting of the past five years, it will be an opportunity for President Xi Jinping, barring a huge surprise, to obtain a third term as head of the CCP. Sun Lijun has “used” the many positions he held between 2001 and 2020 for “to help“, for a fee, individuals and companies to circumvent the law, the court said on Friday.
Directly or through his relatives, he received bribes totaling 646 million yuan, or approximately 93 million euros.
Fight against corruption”
His crimes areparticularly serious” and have “caused particularly heavy losses to the interests of the country and the people“, underlined the court, which ordered the confiscation of all his personal property. Sun Lijun was also charged with market manipulation and illegal possession of a firearm.
At least 1.5 million people have been sanctioned in the current anti-corruption campaign launched by Xi Jinping when he took over as head of state in 2013.
On Thursday, a former Chinese justice minister, Fu Zhenghua, 67, was given a suspended death sentence for accepting the equivalent of 17 million euros in bribes. Three former police chiefs in Shanghai (east), Chongqing (southwest) and Shanxi province (north) were sentenced on Wednesday to heavy sentences for corruption.
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