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Former Minister of Sports
China
, Gou Zhongwen, was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension for the case
corruption
in the form of bribery and abuse of authority
The Yancheng Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu Province stated that Gou received more than 236 million yuan (Rp. 556 billion) in bribes between 2009 and 2024.
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In its ruling, the court said Gou used his various positions during that period to provide benefits to a number of departments and individuals in business activities and project approvals.
Quoted
China Daily
, the 68-year-old former minister was also deprived of his political rights for life and all his personal assets were confiscated.
Separately, the court also sentenced Gou to five years in prison for the crime of abuse of authority.
The court stated that between 2012 and 2013, while serving as deputy mayor of Beijing, Gou abused his power in the acquisition process of a related project, causing huge losses to public assets and harming the interests of the state and society.
The court combined the sentences for the two crimes and imposed a suspended death sentence, as well as ordering all proceeds of the crimes together with related interest to be transferred to the state treasury.
It was stated that Gou’s crimes deserved the death penalty because of the “very large” value of the bribe, the “very serious” circumstances of the case, the “very negative” social impact, and the “very significant” damage to state and public interests.
However, the court considered leniency because Gou admitted his actions, revealed bribery that was not yet known to investigators, returned assets resulting from crime, and had tried to commit bribery which was unsuccessful.
In China, a suspended death sentence can usually be commuted to a life sentence if the convict commits no new offenses during the two-year period, and the life sentence can be further reduced for good behavior.
However, the court ruled that Gou was not eligible for further sentence reduction or parole due to the gravity of the crime and its social impact.
This means he will spend the rest of his life in prison if the sentence is converted to life imprisonment.
Gou, born in Gansu Province, started working in 1974 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1976. He served as deputy mayor of Beijing in 2008 and headed the General Administration of Sports from 2016 to July 2022.
During this period, he was also executive chairman of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee and chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee.
Afterwards, he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and as vice chairman of the Committee on Ethnic and Religious Affairs.
Gou began being investigated in May 2024 before being expelled from the Party and removed from all public office.He was later indicted on charges of bribery and abuse of authority.The court held an open hearing on August 20.
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