Jailed officials treated fairly

Court exercises prudence in giving death penalty for graft

Legal experts have praised the more prudent application of the death penalty for corrupt officials in China as achieving a balance between appropriate punishment and human rights, despite some public skepticism over sentences appearing too light for the worst offenders who tried to embezzle millions of yuan.

Nearly 80 senior officials have been investigated and sentenced since 2012. However, none have been executed, according to media reports.

In the last two weeks, three corrupt officials, who raked in record amounts of money, were sentenced to death with a twoyear reprieve.

In the latest case, Yu Tieyi, a former deputy manager of the supply division of the Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group, was sentenced to death with a two- year reprieve last Friday for taking bribes worth 306.8 million yuan

($ 45.3 million), the highest amount so far dealt with in a corruption case in China, according to media reports.

Death sentences with reprieves are commuted to life imprisonment with no chance of parole and penalty abatement when the probationary period expires, usually after two years. The criminal will be executed only if crimes are conducted again during the probationary period, according to the latest Criminal Law Amendment ( CLA) that took effect in November 2015.

Many people have expressed skepticism online over the reprieved death sentences handed out to senior officials convicted of corruption.

Many said the sentence is too light for those who caused huge losses to the nation, especially after the Supreme People’s Court ( SPC) approved the death sentence on Jia Jinglong on October 18.

Jia, a villager from North China’s Hebei Province, shot and killed the village chief last February in revenge over the demolition of his house during the village’s reconstruction campaign in 2013.

Wasting tax

“If the worst corrupt officials are not sentenced to death, people may believe that officials are shielding each other,” Mo Shaoping, a law professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Mo added that people are dissatisfied with a life sentence, as they feel that the longer convicted criminals are behind bars, the more taxpayer money is wasted.

Ruan Qilin, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, told The Beijing News that China had been strictly controlling and more prudently applying death penalties since the SPC took back the right to review death penalties from lower- level courts in 2007.

Ruan said the death penalty as a deterrent to corruption should be kept on the statute books, as the public expects this.

However, Hong Daode, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times that prudent application of the death penalty is aimed at safeguarding the right to life while maintaining fairness, which is in line with international practice.

“Court sentences given to corrupt officials are based on a combination of the amount of embezzled money and the gravity of the crimes,” Hong said.

According to a clarification of applicable law for corruption and bribery cases, jointly issued by the SPC and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on April 18, the death penalty will be handed down in cases that involve exceptionally large amounts of money, where the crime is particularly severe, with an extremely bad social impact, or if it results in huge losses to the country and people.

Corrupt officials who accept huge amounts of bribes – 3 million yuan or more – will be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, life imprisonment or death along with a fine and property confiscation.

In addition, the clarification by the SPC stipulates that the death penalty can be imposed with a two- year reprieve if suspects turn themselves in and assist in the authorities’ inquiries, faithfully confess their crimes, repent sincerely, return illicit money, or help reduce or avoid the damage they have caused.

‘ Living dead’

China will try to avoid death sentences in corruption cases unless deaths and great damage, either to society or national security, are involved, Hong said.

Hong believes that life imprisonment is a worse deterrent than death, as it makes corrupt officials the “living dead.”

Li Yong, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, told the Global Times that imposing a reprieved death sentence is a balance between punishment and human rights.

“Strict punishment alone cannot curb corruption,” Li said.

Li noted that the root of corruption is power. He said that moves to simplify administrative procedures and delegate authority to lower levels as well as a strict supervision mechanism should also be instituted to curb corruption from the roots.

China is the only country in the world that gives the death penalty for economic crimes. Caijing magazine reported in 2015 that 10 percent of 50 corrupt officials in China were sentenced to immediate execution in 2010, while 26 percent were sentenced to the death penalty with a reprieve and 14 percent to life imprisonment.

Among the 80 senior officials arrested since the 18th National People’s Congress in 2012, no one was sentenced to immediate execution and only one person, former general Gu Junshan, had been sentenced to death with a reprieve as of October 2015, according to The Beijing News.