Wang Sanyun, a former senior legislator, stands trial for taking bribes at Zhengzhou Intermediate People's Court in Henan province on Oct 11, 2018. (Provided to China Daily)
Wang Sanyun, former vice-chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the 12th National People's Congress, was sentenced to 12 years in jail for accepting bribes by a court in Henan province on Thursday.
He was also fined 4 million yuan ($595,000). Property he obtained through bribery will be seized and handed over to the State treasury, according to a statement by the Zhengzhou Intermediate People's Court.
Wang was found to have abused his power from 1993 to 2017, while he served in various posts including Party chief of Liupanshui, Guizhou province, deputy Party chief of Guizhou province, governor of Anhui province and Party chief of Gansu province. In exchange for bribes, he offered preferential treatment to organizations and individuals in project contracts and job promotions, the court said.
Wang illegally accepted property valued at 66.8 million yuan either directly or from other connections.
The court said it believed that Wang used his position and status to seek profits from others, to accept illegal property in large amounts and to engage in bribery.
In view of the fact that Wang took the initiative to confess some facts about his crime and provide information relating to other major cases for authorities to investigate, the court considered his actions as deeds of merit.
Wang, 65, was charged with taking bribes by the Supreme People's Procuratorate in August. He was expelled from the Party and dismissed from official duties the following month.
He began his career as a teacher in Guizhou province in December 1968. In April 2017 he was named vice-chairman of the 12th NPC's Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee.
In another case, an ex-official in Sichuan province pleaded guilty to graft in court on Thursday.
Yan Chunfeng, former deputy secretary of the Guang'an committee of the Communist Party of China in Sichuan, was charged with taking bribes of more than 5.7 million yuan on Thursday by the Deyang municipal people's procuratorate in the Deyang Intermediate People's Court in Sichuan.
From 2001 to 2018, Yan extorted or illegally accepted money and property valued at nearly 5.73 million yuan by using his positions to help others profit in project contracting and dispute resolution, according to the procuratorate.
Yan abused his power when he worked as head of the Urban Planning Bureau in Yibin, Sichuan, head of the Cuiping district government in Yibin, chief engineer of the Chengdu Planning Management Bureau, executive mayor of Guang'an and deputy secretary of the Guang'an municipal committee of the CPC, the indictment said.
Yan pleaded guilty, and the court announced that the judgment would be handed down later.
Netizens hectored Yan's ex-wife by praising her as a role model in unveiling a corrupt official.
Yan, 51, was in the spotlight in May after his daughter was made to sit alone in her kindergarten class after she beat a classmate.
The girl's mother, Li Xiangyang, was enraged and demanded that the teacher, Chen Shu, apologize to her daughter in the presence of all the teachers and classmates. If Chen did not apologize, Li said, she would ask Chen's boss to come so that Chen could explain in person to the boss why she ill-treated Secretary Yan's daughter.
Li's mention of Yan, a high-ranking official, angered students' parents and netizens, who questioned how Yan, a public servant, could afford to send his daughter to a luxury kindergarten whose fees were said to be high.
Their call for an investigation of Yan prompted the probe.
