China’s ex-security chief sentenced to life in jail
beijing — China sentenced its powerful former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang to life in jail on Thursday, after he was found guilty at a secret trial of bribery, leaking state secrets and abuse of power, in China’s most sensational graft scandal in 70 years.
Zhou, who was formally charged in April, was tried in the northern city of Tianjin on May 22, admitted his guilt and decided not to appeal against the verdict, state media said.
The verdict was read out on state television.
Zhou, 72, is the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the party swept to power in 1949.
The decision to try Zhou underscores President Xi Jinping’s pledge to fight corruption at the highest levels.
“I accept the prosecution’s accusations, and the basic facts are clear; I admit my guilt and am penitent,” Xinhua paraphrased Zhou as telling the court.
One source with the direct knowledge of the situation said that Zhou was guarded by soldiers rather than members of the police force he used to command.
“He was cooperative during interrogations,” the source said. “His attitude was good.”
In ordering the investigation into Zhou, Xi broke with an unwritten understanding that members of the Politburo Standing Committee would not come under such scrutiny after retirement. Zhou’s alleged crimes took place over decades, including when he was deputy general manager of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), party boss in southwestern Sichuan province, minister of public security and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, according to the initial indictment.
The page-and-a-half statement published by the official Xinhua news agency gave brief but tantalising details of the trial, though it did not elaborate on the nature of the state secrets he leaked.
Zhou handed over six secret documents from his office to a person named Cao Yongzheng, Xinhua said. Respected Chinese business magazine Caixin has previously identified Cao as a mystic.