Image source: topwar.ru
In Russia, after regular reports of arrests of high-ranking corrupt officials, discussions are breaking out about the fact that punishments against them should be as severe as possible. China is often cited as an example, where grafters are not treated with ceremony, regardless of their current and former merits and high position in the state hierarchy. But that doesn't make the embezzlers any less.
Another example. A Chinese military court has sentenced two former ministers of national defense to death with a two-year suspended sentence for corruption. This is reported by the official news agency of the Government of the People's Republic of China, Xinhua, with reference to today's court decision.
The names of former heads of the Chinese military department who were members of the Central Military Council and the State Council of China in the status of state advisers have been named. These are Colonel-General Wei Fenghe (Minister of Defense from 2018 to 2023) and Li Shangfu, who replaced his predecessor in March 2023 and resigned in October of the same year. Both were dismissed from high military positions on charges of bribery and abuse on a particularly large scale, and were expelled from the Chinese Communist Party for "serious violations of party discipline and legality."
Image source: topwar.ru
Both former military officials received the same sentences — capital punishment, life imprisonment for political rights with confiscation of all personal property, stripped of awards and military ranks.
However, the former defense ministers have the opportunity to avoid the death penalty. According to Chinese law, they are given something like a two-year probation period. During this time, they will be imprisoned. In the case of "exemplary behavior" and the absence of violations, the sentence of capital punishment can be automatically commuted to life imprisonment without the right to parole.
In some cases, the term of serving a sentence may be set at 25 years by a court decision. Based on Chinese judicial practice, this is most often the case. Although there are cases of capital punishment sentences being carried out.
