Du Shicheng, former deputy secretary of the Shandong Provincial
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has been sentenced
to life in jail for taking bribes.
Du, also former secretary of the CPC Qingdao Municipal
Committee, was found to take advantage of his posts to take 6.26
million yuan (US$871,866) worth of bribes and seek illegal gains
for some organizations and individuals from 2000 to January 2006,
when he served vice governor of the eastern Shandong Province,
mayor of Qingdao and secretary of the CPC Qingdao Municipal
Committee.
The sentence was handed down at the Intermediate People's Court
of Xiamen, southeastern Fujian Province on Tuesday.
Judges took a lenient attitude in giving the verdict because Du
had confessed some crimes the judicial authorities had not known,
according to the ruling.
Du was born in March 1950 in Longkou, Shandong and joined the
CPC in December 1972.
He was removed from his CPC posts for "serious discipline
violation" in late December 2006, and was expelled from the Party
for taking bribes and leading a dissolute life in April last
year.
(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2008)