Court: Corrupt newspaper men stay shorter in jail
By Song Hongmei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2004-06-15 16:25

The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong Province revised a corruption case verdict involving a local newspaper Tuesday, and gave shorter imprisonment terms to the criminals.

The court sentenced Yu Huafeng, Nanfang Metropolis News deputy editor-in-chief and general manager, to eight years in prison on corruption charges. He was sentenced to 12 years by the court of first instance -- Dongshan District Court -- three months ago. The court also mitigated the 11-year imprisonment for Li Minying, editor of the newspaper, to six years for taking bribery.

Li also served on the management board of the Nanfang Daily Group, the newspaper's parent company.

According to the intermediate court, Yu Huafeng was convicted for embezzling 580,000 yuan (US$70,000) and distributing it to eight members of the paper's editorial committee, and Yu himself pocketed 100,000 yuan (US$12,000).

The court also accused Yu of paying Li Minying a total of 800,000 yuan (US$97,000) in bribes while Li was editor of Nanfang Netropolis News. Li Minying was accused of accepting bribes totalling 970,000 (US$117,000).

Both Yu and Li maintained that the money in question was acquired legally and was considered routine bonuses handed out to staff.

On March 19, the Dongshan District Court in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, sentenced Yu to 12 years in prison and Li 11 years on embezzlement and bribery charges and confiscated their illegal incomes respectively. Yu and Li appealed.

Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court began the appeal trial in early June and pronounced the sentence on the morning of Tuesday, June 15. The appeal court supported the first trial on all corruption charges agaisnt the two but said the imprisonment terms were inappropriate.

Nanfang Metropolis Daily is one of the most popular and successful newspapers in China. Its profits topped 160 million yuan (US$19 million) in 2003.

Close

Today's Top News     Top China News
China opposes US bill to help Taiwan join WHO         NBS: China can avoid severe inflation         Oil drilling deal inked with Uzbekistan         US general: I'm told to treat POWS like 'dog'         Bush on Saddam handover: Must stay in jail         Two corrupt media pros punished	Education on AIDS to be compulsory       Two corrupt media pros punished       Compensate passengers for delayed flights       Cities better planned, ecologically sound       Bohai Sea hit by two colossal red tides       Country may become ag-biotech star