China sentences Ling Jihua to life in prison

(Baonghean.vn)- On July 4, the People's Court of Tianjin City, China sentenced Ling Jihua, former Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), former Head of the United Front Department of the Communist Party of China under former President Hu Jintao, to life in prison.

Ling Jihua was sentenced to life in prison. Photo: Xinhua.

The trial was not held in public, as the case involved state secrets.

According to the court's verdict, for the crime of accepting bribes, Ling Jihua was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal assets; for the crime of illegally accessing state secrets, the court sentenced him to 5 years in prison; for the crime of abuse of power, the sentence was 4 years in prison.

Thus, former Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Ling Jihua was sentenced to life in prison, deprived of political rights for life, and had all of his personal assets confiscated. At the trial, Ling Jihua expressed his compliance with the verdict and did not file an appeal.

The investigation and trial found that Ling Jihua accepted bribes worth a total of 77 million yuan (equivalent to 11 million USD), illegally accessed a large amount of state secret documents, seriously damaged the national security system, abused his power to assign jobs, buy houses, promote, and relocate household registrations for a number of subjects with special relationships, causing great damage to state assets, national interests and the people, and negatively affecting society.

Previously, in December 2014, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China announced that Ling Jihua was under investigation for suspected "serious disciplinary violations".

Later, this character was removed from the position of Head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. In February 2015, Ling Jihua was removed from the position of Vice Chairman of the CPPCC.

Last July, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to expel Ling Jihua from the Party. In May, the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China announced the official prosecution of Ling Jihua./.

Lan Ha

(According to China Daily)