The former vice chief of the Sports Lottery Administrative Center has lodged an appeal with the Beijing Supreme Court to overturn his 10-and-a-half-year sentence for bribery, the Beijing News reported today.

The former vice chief of the Sports Lottery Administrative Center has lodged an appeal with the Beijing Supreme Court to overturn his 10-and-a-half-year sentence for bribery, the Beijing News reported today.

Zhang Weihua, the former legal representative and vice director of the Sports Lottery Administrative Center, claimed he is not guilty and asked the Supreme Court to nullify the original sentence.

The Beijing First Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zhang on December 19 for accepting US$20,000 in cash and a cell phone valued at about 70,000 yuan (US$9,481.85) from a company without import qualifications in return for buying imported paper materials for lottery tickets.

Zhang Yan, Zhang Weihua's attorney, said that Zhang Weihua received a box of mooncakes without knowing cash was placed inside. His lawyer said Zhang Weihua reported it to the discipline unit of the sports administration and returned the money the next day. Zhang Weihua has kept this incident very low profile as required by those officials, Zhang's attorney said. Zhang Weihua asked the court to call the discipline officials to testify, the report said.

The report didn't say if the Zhangs are related.

The trial of first instance said Zhang Weihua returned the bribe money a year after receiving it during an audit launched by the National Audit Office in 2005.

Zhang Yan also said the mobile phone, which the bribers allegedly gave Zhang Weihua during the National Day holiday in October 2004 was not available on the market until the end of 2004, so it was impossible for him to receive the phone.

Zhang Weihua was arrested in August 2006 for alleged power abuse after the center was found to have misused lottery income that caused about 23.41 million yuan in losses, according to a previous report in China Youth Daily.

(Shanghai Daily January 10, 2008)