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Ex-Senior Chinese Court Official Sentenced for Corruption

27 January 2011 02:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. A Chinese court has handed a suspended death sentence to a former top court official in the southwestern city of Chongqing on charges of corruption, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

China’s official Xinhua news agency says the court in the neighboring province of Guizhou sentenced Zhang Tao to death with a two-year reprieve, a penalty typically commuted to life in prison. Zhang was a vice president of Chongqing’s high court until he was stripped of his position in 2009 while under investigation by anti-corruption authorities.

The court ruled that Zhang accepted bribes worth $1.4 million and sheltered criminal gangs for a ten-year period while serving as an official of the municipality. China’s Global Times newspaper has reported that he was accused of helping gangsters manipulate the price of land in an auction.

Zhang’s conviction is part of a Chinese government crackdown on organized crime in Chongqing, where gang leaders have been acting with impunity under the protection of corrupt officials.