Guizhou official sentenced to death with reprieve for bribery worth over 600 million yuan

Liu Wenxin, a former senior official in Guizhou province's political and legal system, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Monday for multiple crimes, including bribery, money laundering and illegally carrying banned weapons.

All illicit gains will be confiscated and turned over to the state treasury, according to the ruling made by intermediate people's court of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture.

The court found that Liu abused his power during his tenure at various leading positions in the province, helping individuals and organizations in land transfers, construction projects and other ventures. He accepted bribes more than 609 million yuan ($83.4 million), while some were not actually obtained.

"On Jan 4, 2020, Liu brought 25 prohibited knives onto a civilian aircraft, posing a grave threat to public safety," the court added.

From 2003 to 2022, Liu held various positions, including mayor of Guiyang, Party secretary of Qianxinan prefecture and deputy secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commision of Guizhou province.

The court stated that Liu's crimes involved an extremely large sum of money, severe circumstances and serious harm to state and public interests, warranting the death penalty.

"Considering Liu's confession, attempted bribery and voluntary disclosure of facts unknown to authorities, the court sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve according to law, without commutation or parole," it added.

In China, death sentences with reprieves are often commuted to life imprisonment or further reduced if no additional crimes are committed during the reprieve period. The court, however, ruled that Liu will serve life in prison without the possibility of commutation or parole.

Public information shows that Liu, born in Jiangxi province in 1967, joined the Communist Party of China in May 1995.

He was promoted to mayor of Guiyang in January 2014, later serving as Party secretary of Qianxinan prefecture in August 2017.

By April 2022, he had been appointed deputy secretary of Guizhou's Political and Legal Affairs Commission, a position he held until an investigation against him began in October of the same year.

Liu Boqian contributed to this story.