Former Chinese sports minister sentenced to death for corruption
By Abdulgafar Oladimeji
The former Chinese sports minister Gou Zhongwen has been sentenced to death for indulging in acts of corruption, CCTV broadcaster reported last Monday.
Gou, who was one time director of China’s State General Administration of Sports was convicted by a court in Jiangsu province .
The court heard that the convicted man between 2009 and 2024 collected 236 million yuan ($33.4 million)equivalent in bribes.
The court further heard that the bribes were recei ved from individuals and departments for project approvals.
The court slammed life ban on Gou from occupying political office henceforth , while ordering the seizures of all his assets.
The court have sentenced him to five years in prison for abuse of power. noting that from 2012 to 2013 in his position as the vice-mayor of Beijing, Gou engaged in corrupt practices that resulted to “losses of public assets and harming the interests of the State and the public.” The court said.
The court in its verdict said his crime were “extremely large”, “extremely severe”, “extremely negative”, causing the state losses of an “extremely significant magnitude”.
Gou , when arraigned had confessed to committing the crime .
The court handed Gou a suspended death sentence and ordered that all his assets connected to his illegal acts be transferred to the state treasury.
