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Ex-minister sentenced to life term for bribery
By Liu Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-28 06:08
Tian Fengshan, former minister of land and resources, was sentenced to life
imprisonment yesterday for accepting bribes worth 4.36 million yuan
(US$538,000).
All his personal properties will be confiscated, according to the verdict of
the Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Tian
Fengshan | From 1996 to 2003, Tian took advantage
of his posts as governor of Heilongjiang Province and central government
minister to unduly reward officials who bribed him, the court said.
All the bribes accepted by Tian have been recovered.
Tian, 65, was guilty of accepting large amounts of bribes which could have
got him the death sentence but the court was lenient because he confessed most
of his crimes, repented and returned the bribes, sources said.
Xinhua said Tian was accused of taking money on 17 occasions but didn't say
where that money came from or what Tian was accused of doing in exchange.
Tian took office as governor of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province in
1995 and was appointed minister of land and resources in 2000.
He was relieved of his last position in 2003, and arrested and expelled from
the Communist Party of China last year.
Tian was one of a group of senior corrupt officials who have been rooted out
in Heilongjiang.
Han Guizhi, former chairwoman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was earlier this month
sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting 7.02 million yuan
(US$875,000) in bribes.
In July, Ma De, former Party secretary of Suihua in Heilongjiang, was also
sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth 6 million
yuan (US$740,000).
Tian's former deputy in Heilongjiang Zhu Shengwen
committed suicide in prison in 2003.
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