Chinese legislator calls for explicit penalties against corrupt officials
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A Chinese legislator said?in?Beijing?Saturday that China needs to further standardize the measurement of penalties against corrupt officials in order to better safeguard justice.
Zhang Liyong, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, said the Criminal Law needs to stipulate explicit sentences for officials taking bribes worth more than 100,000 yuan (about 14,640 U.S. dollars).
The current law stipulates that officials taking bribes worth more than 100,000 yuan could be sentenced to more than 10 years in jail, life imprisonment or even capital punishment.
However, it does not say how different the sentences should be regarding different amounts of bribes.
"The law leaves too much room for judges to decide for each case that falls into this category," Zhang said.
He said the issue should be addressed because it is now quite common for corrupt officials to take bribes worth more than 100,000 yuan as China's economy keeps growing.
