Former east China court president handed 15 years for bribery

XIAMEN, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jian, former president of the Higher People's Court of eastern China's Anhui Province, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery.

The sentence was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Xiamen, in eastern China's Fujian Province, on Tuesday.

Zhang was also fined 5 million yuan (775,190 U.S. dollars). All of the wealth he obtained through bribery will be confiscated, according to the court sentence. He accepted the sentence and said he would not appeal.

The court found that between 1995 and 2019, Zhang took advantage of his various former positions in Anhui and neighboring Hubei Province to assist others in project contracting, personnel recruitment and promotion, and the handling of certain legal cases.

In return, Zhang accepted money and goods worth more than 71.79 million yuan, of which 24.03 million yuan was not actually obtained and is therefore regarded as an attempted crime, according to the court sentence.

The court ruled that Zhang's actions constitute the crime of accepting bribes, involving very large amounts, and he should be punished in accordance with law. The court decided to grant a lenient sentence as he had been cooperative during the investigation, confessed his crimes and showed repentance, while most of the illegal gains have been recovered.