3rd Ld: Zhou Yongkang sentenced to life in prison

Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday for accepting bribes, abusing his power and deliberately disclosing state secrets, Tianjin Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court ruled.

Zhou was also deprived of his political rights for life and had his personal assets confiscated.

The court heard his case on May 22. Involving disclosure of state secrets, Zhou's trial was not open to the public. Zhou pleaded guilty and will not appeal.

Zhou was convicted of taking bribes of about 130 million yuan (21.3 million U.S. dollars), said the court judgement.

According to the court, Zhou took the advantage of his position to seek profits for five persons identified as Wu Bing, Ding Xuefeng, Wen Qingshan, Zhou Hao and Jiang Jiemin, and personally accepted money and property worth 731,100 yuan from Jiang.

Money and property worth 129 million yuan was accepted by his wife Jia Xiaoye and son Zhou Bin. Zhou was informed about the bribes after the fact.

According to the judgement, Zhou instructed Jiang Jiemin and Li Chuncheng to assist the business activities of others, helping them to illegally obtain about 2.14 billion yuan and causing losses to the state of 1.49 billion yuan.

Zhou leaked five "extremely confidential" documents and one "confidential" document to an unauthorized person identified as Cao Yongzheng, directly contravening of the State Secret Law.

Zhou's wife and son testified through video link while Wu Bing and Jiang Jiemin appeared in court. Other witness statements were presented along with the evidence.

The court statement said Zhou had taken "particularly huge bribes," but had truthfully confessed, pleaded guilty and repented his wrongdoing when brought to justice. Most of the money was accepted by Zhou's relatives, without his prior knowledge, and Zhou asked his relatives to return their illegal gains. All gifts and cash have now been recovered. These actions constitute "legal and discretionary grounds for lesser punishment."

Zhou abused his power and deliberately disclosed state secrets "in particularly grave circumstances," the statement continued, but his action "did not have serious consequences."

The court reached its verdict "in accordance with the facts, nature, and details" of Zhou's crimes, based on the harm done to society.

In his final statement, Zhou accepted the charges. "The basic facts are clear. I plead guilty and repent my wrongdoing," he said.

"Those involved, who bribed my family, were actually coming after the power I held, and I should take the main responsibility.

"I broke the law and Party rules incessantly, and the objective facts of my crimes have resulted in grave losses of the Party and the nation.

"The handling of my case in accordance with Party rules and the law reflects the authorities' determination to govern the Party strictly and advance the rule of law," Zhou added. Endi