COURT BACKS SUSPENDED DEATH PENALTY FOR CORRUPT FORMER BEIJING VICE MAYOR

in China, a second hearing rejected the appeal of Beijing's former vice mayor Liu Zhihua and sustained the suspended death penalty for him for corruption.
The Provincial Higher People's Court of Hebei affirmed the sentence handed down to Liu by the Hengshui Intermediate People's Court on Oct 18, 2007, according to sources with the Supreme People's Court. Liu, 59, was found guilty of taking bribes totaling 6.97 million yuan ($US1.02 million) when he was vice mayor and director of the management committee of Zhongguancun Science Park from 1999 to 2006. He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve but lodged an appeal one day before the appeal deadline.
Liu was removed from the post of Beijing vice mayor in June 2006 and expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) six months later.