Beijing: Chinese court had sentenced death penalty with two-year reprieve to a former top Chinese railway official on Friday for taking nearly USD 8 million bribes.
Beijing No 2 Intermediate People’s Court had sentenced to Zhang Shuguang, former head of the Railways Ministry’s transportation bureau and deputy chief engineer.
The court also deprived Zhang of political rights for life and confiscated all his property.
Zhang is the second high-ranking railway official convicted of bribery in China after former railway minister Liu Zhijun was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery and abuse of power in July, as part of an anti-graft campaign launched under President Xi Jinping.
Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life imprisonment in China after two years.
Chinese media reported that Zhang’s deputy Su Shunhu was also given life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life and has all property confiscated.
The court said Zhang took bribes worth more than CNY 47 million (USD 7.68 million) from 14 companies when he served in a variety of positions in the ministry between 2000 and 2011.
The court states that Zhang had helped companies with contracts relating to the sale of trains or parts, technical supply and the bidding of projects, the court said.
On Su’s part, the court found he took bribes worth more than CNY 24 million (USD 3.92 million) from three companies between 2003 to 2011.
The its judgement, court said that it took into consideration that both defendants voluntarily made a confession on undiscovered bribery and showed sincere regrets over their wrongdoings.
Bureau Report
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