[JURIST] A Chinese military court on Tuesday sentenced former top General Guo Boxiong to life in prison for taking bribes. While the amounts of the bribes have not been officially disclosed, as the trial was held behind closed doors, the South China Morning Post [media website] reported in April that the bribes amounted [SCMP report] to an estimated USD $12.3 million. Guo has been deprived [Xinhua report] of political rights for life and his former title of general.

The Chinese government has increased the prosecution of domestic corruption increased following the appointment of President Xi Jinping [BBC profile] in 2013. In April the Supreme People’s Court of China clarified [JURIST report] that the maximum penalty for the crime of corruption in the form of embezzlement or accepting bribes amounting to high sums of money will be the death penalty. In February the Hangzhou Christian Council announced [JURIST report] that a prominent Chinese Pastor was under investigation for corruption involving the embezzlement of state funds. In November a Chinese court jailed a top aide to the country’s former security chief Zhou Yongkang on corruption charges. In October Chinese state media reported that the former head of the country’s biggest oil firm was sentenced to 16 years in prison [JURIST report] for corruption. In September prosecutors in China announced that they will be investigating former China Supreme Court justice Xi Xiaoming on corruption charges [JURIST report]. In August a former general in China’s People’s Liberation Army, Gu Junshan, was sentenced [JURIST report] by a Chinese military court to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption charges.