Photo:CCTV

Sun Lijun, former Chinese vice minister of public security, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking more than 646 million yuan of bribes, manipulating the stock market, and illegally possessing firearms, according to the Intermediate People's Court of Changchun in Northeast China's Jilin Province on Friday.

Sun has been stripped of his political rights and all his personal property has been confiscated. After the expiration of the two-years reprieve, his sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment, with no possibility of commutation or parole, according to the court ruling.

The crime of accepting bribes earned Sun the death sentence with a two-year reprieve. He was also sentenced to eight years in prison for manipulating the stock market and was fined 1 million yuan, in addition to a further five years for illegally possessing firearms. The court thus decided to hand down the death sentence with a two-year reprieve.

From 2001 to April 2020, Sun used the influence accumulated through past positions to seek gains for others and illegally accepted money and property worth 646 million yuan. In the first half of 2018, Sun manipulated related individuals to engage in stock market dealings, helping certain individuals to avoid losses of 145 million yuan. 

Sun was also found to have illegally possessed two firearms.

Given the severity of Sun's crimes and his social influence, the court sentenced him to death and issued a heavy financial penalty. But considering his confession to his crimes, voluntarily offering assistance on other cases and aiding authorities in recovering corrupt proceeds, the court issued a two-year reprieve, according to the ruling. 

Sun had been expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from his post for grave violations of Party discipline and laws, the Xinhua News Agency reported in September 2021. 

Previous investigations revealed that Sun failed to stay true to the Party's ideals and faith, displayed "extremely inflated political ambition and very poor political integrity," issued groundless criticisms of the Party's policies, and spread political rumors, Xinhua reported.

Sun unscrupulously cultivated personal followers and interest groups to obtain personal political gains. He also seriously undermined the unity of the Party and compromised political security.

Global Times