INA–Follow up
China's official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday that former defense ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu received suspended death sentences for two years after being convicted of bribery and financial corruption.
The agency stated in a report, which was followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the military court issued separate sentences, convicting Wei Fenghe of accepting bribes, while Li Shangfu was convicted of both offering and accepting bribes."
The report added that the sentences also included stripping them of their political rights for life and confiscating all their personal property.
"These measures come within the framework of the broad anti-corruption purge within the Chinese military establishment," Xinhua stated, emphasizing that "the two ministers had previously been expelled from the Communist Party and the State Council after being found guilty of serious violations of party and political discipline."
According to the Chinese judicial system, a suspended death sentence is often commuted to life imprisonment after the two-year period, provided that the convicted person does not commit any further legal violations during this period.
