Ling Jihua, the former chief of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party and top aide to former Party leader Hu Jintao, was recently indicted by the regime’s top prosecuting body.
According to report by state mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency on May 13, Ling, 59, was charged with taking massive bribes, abusing his office, and illegally obtaining state secrets. The No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court of Tianjin, a port city in eastern China, will adjudicate Ling’s case.
Ling could be due for a lengthy stint in jail if he’s proven guilty, which is almost a certainty in communist China. The greatest punishment he faces is the death sentence on the charge of misappropriating state secrets, but execution is unlikely. Overseas Chinese language news website Bowen Press said that the trial is likely to be held sometime in June, referencing an insider in Beijing.
