China News Service, December 8th. According to the official WeChat message of the Jilin Provincial Higher People’s Court, on December 8, 2020, the Jilin Provincial Higher People’s Court conducted a second instance of the corruption appeal case against Li Ning, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of China Agricultural University, and Zhang Lei in the same case. Open hearings and pronounce judgments in court.
In the second instance, the Songyuan City Intermediate People’s Court (2015) Song Xing Chuzi No. 15 Criminal Judgment No. 15 convicted the defendant Li Ning for embezzlement in the first paragraph and the second and third sentences were upheld, and the sentence for Li Ning was revoked. In part, the appellant Li Ning was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for corruption and fined RMB 2.5 million.
The Songyuan Intermediate People’s Court found that from July 2008 to February 2012, the defendant Li Ning used the professor of China Agricultural University, the director of the State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biotechnology of China Agricultural University, and the Li Ning subject of the College of Biology, China Agricultural University. The head of the group and the position responsible for managing the funds for a number of major national science and technology projects, together with the defendant Zhang Lei, adopted methods such as embezzlement, false invoicing, and false listing of labor expenditures. The research funds for corruption projects totaled more than 34.1 million yuan, including corruption. The project funding under the names of other members of the group is more than 20.92 million yuan.
The above funds were all transferred to Li Ning's personally controlled accounts by Li Ning and Zhang Lei and used to invest in many companies that Li Ning and other shares and holdings.
The original judgment held that the actions of the two defendants constituted the crime of corruption.
In the joint crime, Li Ning played the main role and was the principal offender.
Zhang Lei played a secondary role. He was an accomplice. He had a confession and pleaded guilty. He can be given a reduced punishment in accordance with law.
The court of first instance ruled: 1. The defendant Li Ning committed corruption and was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RMB 3 million.
2. Defendant Zhang Lei committed corruption and was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison and fined RMB 200,000.
3. The seized illicit money shall be confiscated according to law and turned over to the state treasury, and the insufficient part shall be recovered.
After the sentence was pronounced, Li Ning filed an appeal.
Image source: Official WeChat of the High People's Court of Jilin Province.
During the trial of the second instance of the Higher People's Court of Jilin Province, the appellant Li Ning voluntarily pleaded guilty and pleaded guilty, submitted a letter of repentance, and signed the "Recognition of Guilty and Punishment" under the witness of his defense lawyer.
In the trial of the second instance, Li Ning had no objection to the facts, evidence, and the charges found in the original judgment. He pleaded guilty and repented in court. He appealed to the court of second instance for a lighter punishment in accordance with the law and willingness to accept the court's sentence.
According to Li Ning's attitude of pleading guilty, the procuratorate made a second-instance sentencing recommendation.
After the adjournment, the collegiate panel conducted a serious review and held that the original judgment found that the appellant Li Ning and the original trial defendant Zhang Lei had committed the crime of corruption. The facts were clear, the evidence was reliable and sufficient, and the conviction was accurate.
The trial procedure was legal.
Given that Li Ning pleaded guilty and pleaded guilty during the second instance, the sentence of the appellant Li Ning should be commuted.
Based on the sentencing recommendations made by the procuratorial organ, the court made the above-mentioned second instance judgment.
Image source: Official WeChat of the High People's Court of Jilin Province.
The second trial opened. The appellant Li Ning's close relatives participated in the observation. At the same time, some representatives of the National People's Congress and CPPCC members of the country and Jilin Province, as well as some representatives of the media and the public were invited to observe the trial and pronounce the verdict.