Former Chinese general sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes

A Chinese military court has sentenced a former top general to life in prison for taking bribes, concluding China’s highest-level prosecution of a military figure in decades.

Guo Boxiong was also stripped of his rank and forced to hand over all his assets to the Chinese government, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Guo, 74, is a former vicechairman of the Central Military Commission, which is led by Xi Jinping, China’s president and leader of the ruling Communist Party. Guo also was once among the 25 members of the party’s Politburo. 0 Former General Guo Boxiong was stripped of rank

While few details of the charges against Guo were immediately released, state media had reported that prosecutors had proof that he and his family took advan- tage of his position and accepted bribes to arrange promotions and assignments for others.

The reports cited prosecutors as saying Guo had confessed to the bribery charges.

Guo is among the most powerful figures to fall in Xi’s sweeping anti-corruption drive. Guo’s former immediate subordinate on the military commission, Gen. Xu Caihou, was also facing prosecution when he died of cancer in March last year.

A military source told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper Guo had taken US$12.3 million in bribes.