Corrupt Xinjiang ex-official sentenced

A former deputy security chief of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption, including taking bribes and arranging jobs in the legal system, according to China Judgments Online (wenshu.court.gov.cn) on Monday.

Xie Hui accepted about 42.3 million yuan ($6.4 million) in bribes, ignored his duty, held property worth about 49.8 million yuan from unclear sources and caused economic losses of 127 million yuan, the judgment said.

Urumqi Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xie and confiscated property worth 4.5 million yuan on Nov 6.

Some 221 workers in Xinjiang's justice and prison systems paid Xie about 8 million yuan in return for promotions or job transfers during his time as deputy head of the region's Public Security Department, the judgment said.

Xie, who is of Han ethnicity, was born in Altay in 1963 and was admitted to the Communist Party of China in 1986, according to his resume published on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection website.

He had a long career in Xinjiang's prison system, starting in 1986. He was named head of the Xinjiang Prison Management Bureau in 2010, a position he held until his promotion in 2013 to deputy head of the public security bureau of the autonomous region.

Xie was suspected of corruption and placed under investigation in July 2015, the CCDI said on its website.

He was placed in criminal detention in December 2015 and arrested in January 2016, and was expelled from the Party and removed from office the following month. Xie's case was heard in April this year.

The cases of seven workers in Xinjiang's prison system were transferred to judicial departments, with allegations of malfeasance, while another 42 in Xie's case were punished by administrative and Party disciplinary agencies, according to a report in China Discipline Inspection Daily on March 23.

From 2002 to 2013, 174 projects in Xinjiang's prison system went forward without open bidding under Xie's influence. Xie directly designated contractors for some projects, according to the report.

The investigative team in Xie's case told China Discipline Inspection Daily that Xie's disciplinary violations seriously undermined the political ecology of Xinjiang's justice and prison systems.