Life in prison means just that

Less severe than the death penalty but severer than the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, a new sentence of life imprisonment without parole is being introduced for officials who commit serious corruption crimes.

Those who receive the new sentence will have to spend the rest of their lives in prison, since it allows no possibility of their sentence being commuted or receiving parole no matter how well they behave in prison.

In the past, a death sentence with a two-year reprieve was often commuted to a life sentence if the convict behaved well during the reprieve period and the imprisonment term might be cut if he or she continued to behave well after the reprieve. However, such leniency has offered officials who have received a suspended death sentence for severe corruption crimes the opportunity to be released from prison, an opportunity that might be facilitated through illegal deals. The new judicial interpretation leaves no space for such maneuvering.