February 2001 World Headlines

Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - Web posted at 10:29:16 AM GMT

Top police officer tried in China's biggest graft probe

BEIJING - A Beijing court yesterday tried the highest ranking official charged with involvement in the country's biggest corruption case, as five other courts announced sentences on 129 others convicted in connection with the multi-billion-dollar smuggling operation, state media reported.

Former vice-minister of public security Li Jizhou was charged with taking more than 10 million yuan (US$1,2 million) in bribes from the alleged mastermind of the smuggling ring, Lai Changxing, and with hampering the investigation of the case, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The court completed the trial but has not passed sentence on Li, who is the highest of 273 officials, police chiefs and trading executives charged with running the smuggling ring based in the southeastern port of Xiamen, the agency said.

The charges against Li related to smuggling of oil, cars and cigarettes, it said.

Also on Tuesday, courts in five cities in the Xiamen area announced sentences on 129 people convicted of involvement in the smuggling operation, including 91 Communist Party members.

The courts sentenced to death three business executives who were convicted of avoiding import taxes totalling 2,86 billion yuan (US$345 million), Xinhua said.

Last Friday the first seven executions were carried out in the case involving smuggling of oil, cars, computers and cigarettes worth 53 billion yuan (US$6,4 billion).

The seven were among 84 people sentenced last November, including Xiamen's former deputy mayor and deputy Communist Party secretary and officials from the customs service, the police, the military, banks and foreign trade companies. Nampa-Sapa-DPA

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