Shenyang prosecutor gets life imprisonment for taking bribes

The top prosecutor in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for taking bribes, according to a provincial court.

The Intermediate People's Court in the province's Dandong city handed down the sentence to Zhang Dongyang, former president of Shenyang People's Procuratorate and ex-Party secretary of the provincial Liaozhong county, after he received bribes of more than 9.8 million yuan ($1.6 million) and 60,000 US dollars.

The court, which said Zhang, 50, made use of his position to seek bribes by helping others make profits from 2006 to 2013, also confiscated all his private property.

As Zhang worked as the county's Party secretary, he promised to help the local publicity department's head, surnamed Wang, to transfer his job to the disciplinary organ in the region in February 2005, and then received Wang's debit card with 80,000 yuan deposited on it.

Wang was appointed the secretary of local discipline inspection a year later, according to the court.

In 2011, Zhang took advantage of his position to ask Lin Qiang, former governor of Heping district in Shenyang, to provide aid for Shi Haiying, Zhang's cousin, when Shi's enterprise was demolished, the court said, adding that Shi received 109 million yuan as land expropriation compensation.

To show his thanks, Shi offered bribes six times between 2012 and 2013, and the total was 5.7 million yuan and 50,000 US dollars, the court said.

Cases against Shi and Lin are separately being heard, it said.

The court also disclosed four other instances of Zhang receiving bribes between 2006 and 2013.

Zhang, with a law masters degree, worked in Shenyang public security organs 18 years and was awarded a first-class merit in investigations. He was arrested on August 1 last year.

It is not the first time that judicial officials in the province were exposed for violating law and discipline.

On Jan 16, Li Wei, former president of the province's Dalian Intermediate People's Court, was expelled from the Party and his post, the country's top discipline watchdog said.

Li came under investigation in July after he was found allegedly abusing his power to profit from trials and taking huge bribes, it added.

Ten judges at the court in the province's Qingyuan Manchu autonomous county were also questioned between May and July, and local prosecutors said at that time most were suspected of accepting bribes, abusing their power, passing incorrect verdicts or perverting laws.

After the cases were disclosed, Zhou Qiang, China's top court's president, asked each court to find and correct disciplinary problems involving judicial officials in a timely manner, and all judges should punish those who disobey laws and break the Party's discipline rules.

On Dec 9, the Supreme People's Court issued a guideline on tackling judicial graft, ruling every court must deal with cases relating to government officers under laws.

All courts are asked to implement the guideline as quickly as possible, and anti-graft work by courts must also be pushed forwarded, it added.