Former senior official Fu Zhenghua on Thursday was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth more than 117 million yuan ($16.76 million) and bending the law for personal gains.

The Intermediate People's Court of Changchun in northeast China's Jilin Province established that Fu, former deputy head of the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, took bribes by abusing power in various positions he held between 2005 and 2021.

The court also found that Fu, when working as head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau from 2014 to 2015, shielded his younger brother who was suspected of serious crimes from investigation and prosecution.

Fu was deprived of his political rights for life, and all his personal assets were confiscated, the court said.

The sum of bribes Fu had taken was massive, and his crimes caused a heavy loss to the interests of the state and people, said the court. However, a lenient sentence was granted, considering that Fu had confessed to his crimes and showed repentance and had been cooperative in returning his illegal gains.

After the two-year reprieve for his death sentence, Fu's sentence can be commuted to life in prison in accordance with the law, but no further reduction or parole shall be given to him, the court said.

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(Cover: File photo of former senior Chinese official Fu Zhenghua. /CFP)