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China’s former internet tsar Lu Wei jailed for 14 years for bribery

  • Former face of online censorship pleaded guilty to corruption charges last October
  • Party disciplinary body had accused him of range of violations ranging from disloyalty to trading power for sex and lack of self control

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China's former cybersecurity tsar Lu Wei pleaded guilty at a trial last October. Photo: Zhejiang Higher People's Court

China’s former internet tsar Lu Wei was sentenced to 14 years in prison for accepting bribes and fined 3 million yuan (US$447,000) on Tuesday.

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The former head of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) told the Intermediate People’s Court of Ningbo that he would not appeal.

Last October he pleaded guilty to taking advantage of his position – and the power and status that came along with it – to accept bribes.

The court also confiscated all the assets he obtained corruptly.

According to prosecutors, Lu accepted bribes, either directly or through third parties, in almost every position he held in his decades-long career at state news agency Xinhua, the Beijing municipal party committee and government, the cyberspace administration and the party’s Central Publicity Department.

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Lu “confessed his crimes and expressed repentance”, said the court, which added that this was grounds for leniency.

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