Officials from a prison in Hebei Province denied Tuesday that former China Central Television (CCTV) anchor Rui Chenggang had died in jail, saying he was not sent to their jail.
"Rui has not served his sentence in Yancheng Prison and the news is completely fabricated," an official with the prison was quoted as saying by news site legal daily.com.cn.
The official also urged media to report objectively.
On April 12, the Beijing-based weekly newspaper China Business Journal reported that the graft case against Rui would soon be heard.
Rui's case is among 34 corruption-related cases at CCTV, and 29 of them have been assigned to judicial organs in Northeast China's Jilin Province, the newspaper said, citing an anonymous source close to the provincial judicial agencies.
Rui, once a popular host of financial and news programs on CCTV, was taken away by prosecutors in July 2014 together with Li Yong, deputy director of the business channel and another unnamed producer, following the detention of Guo Zhenxi, then-director of CCTV's business channel, for allegedly receiving bribes in June 2014, news site caixin.com reported.
At least 10 CCTV employees were reportedly suspected of corruption that year.
