Ex-security official given sentence for corruption

Former vice-minister of public security Sun Lijun on Friday was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve after another five senior officials closely related to his small clique were all sentenced separately earlier this week.

The Changchun Intermediate People's Court in Jilin province gave Sun the suspended death sentence for the crime of taking bribes, along with an eight-year prison sentence and 1 million yuan ($140,000) fine for manipulating security markets, and five years for illegal possession of firearms.

In combination, Sun was handed down the suspended death sentence. After the two-year reprieve, his prison term could be commuted to life in prison without further reduction or parole, meaning that he will remain behind bars for the rest of his life.

The court also deprived Sun of his political rights for life and confiscated his property. His illegal gains have been recovered and turned over to the State treasury.

According to the court, from 2001 to April 2020, Sun took advantage of several previous positions, including vice-minister of public security, helping others to run businesses, adjust positions, handle cases and other matters. In return, he received money and property amounting to more than 646 million yuan directly or through others.

In addition, in the first half of 2018, Sun — at the request of others — instructed certain individuals to influence stock prices and trading volume by means of concentrated capital advantages and continuous trading, and helped others avoid losses of more than 145 million yuan. Sun also violated firearms control regulations with illegal possession of two firearms, said the court.

The number of bribes Sun accepted was extremely large. He also helped several people seek job promotions and adjustments, and used his power to intervene in case-handling procedures and the normal operation of people's livelihoods in fields such as medicine and finance.

Damage caused by his crimes was extremely serious, and the social impact was very harmful, resulting in heavy losses to the interests of the State and the people, so he should be given the death penalty, said the court.

Sun provided information on other major criminal cases, which was later verified. He also confessed to crimes that investigators were not previously aware of, pleaded guilty and actively handed over illegal gains, thus the court showed some leniency.

However, given that Sun's crimes caused serious damage to the State and society, the court decided not to further reduce his sentence after the two-year reprieve.

Sun, 53, a native of Shandong province, began working in 1988 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1997. He was placed under investigation in April 2020.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate approved the arrest of Sun in November 2021. His case was heard in July this year in Changchun, during which time he pleaded guilty.

An anti-graft documentary titled Zero Tolerance, broadcast on China Central Television in January, revealed details of how Sun cultivated his followers to form a small political clique and took huge bribes.

Five members of the group — former minister of justice Fu Zhenghua, former police chief of Shanghai Gong Daoan, former police chief of Chongqing Deng Huilin, former police chief of Shanxi province Liu Xinyun and former head of the commission for political and legal affairs of the Communist Party of China Jiangsu Committee Wang Like received their verdicts earlier this week, with sentences ranging from 14 years in prison to the death penalty with a two-year reprieve.

Like Sun, Fu and Wang were given the same sentence.

Gao Mingxuan, a law professor at Renmin University of China, said that the amount of bribes taken by Fu and Wang were considerable, and the court's sentences considered both the bribery amounts and other sentencing circumstances stipulated by law, such as the nature and criminal circumstances of the offenses and the extent of societal harm.

The sentences fully took into consideration both statutory and discretionary circumstances, such as how the perpetrators voluntarily confessed their crimes and returned ill-gotten money and property. It reflected that the penalty was commensurate with the societal harm they caused, and followed the principle of balancing sentences with felonies.

The verdicts also specifically explain the rationality and legality of the application of the system of life imprisonment, non-commutation and parole in the cases under consideration, Gao said.

"The court sentences demonstrated to the public the justice and equality of the application of the law and reflect that crimes by officials, especially in the field of political and legal affairs, will be severely punished, highlighting the determination of the CPC Central Committee to ensure full and strict governance of the Party and zero tolerance for corruption," he added.