Ex-police chief involved in wrong execution jailed for graft

A former police chief, who headed the investigation into a wrongfully executed teenager two decades ago, was sentenced to 18 years in jail by a court in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Tuesday for bribery, embezzlement, illegal possession of firearms and holding a large amount of undeclared assets.

Feng Zhiming, former deputy director of the public security bureau in Hohhot, the region's capital, was also fined 1.1 million yuan ($163,000) by the regional Hulunbuir Intermediate People's Court.

According to the judgment, Feng abused his position in the bureau between 2008 and 2014 to benefit 13 departments and individuals, accepting money in return.

He and his wife sold real estate worth more than 3.8 million yuan at above-market value during the same period, and he could not explain how he had come to own more than 34 million yuan worth of property, the judgment said.

Feng was also found guilty of illegally possessing four guns and 549 bullets, and selling a State-owned car worth 150,000 yuan.

His trial, which began on Aug 1, generated great public interest as Feng headed the investigation into Hugjiltu, a teenager who was executed for murder and rape in 1996.

The young man was declared innocent in December 2014, when it was announced that he was wrongfully convicted.