A former deputy chief of the state-run sports lottery, who was
sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison after being convicted of
bribery in an initial trial last month, has appealed to a higher
court, claiming he was "unaware" of the money given to him in a
mooncake box.
Zhang Weihua, 44, the former vice director and legal
representative of China's Sports Lottery Administration Center,
went on trial in the First Intermediate People's Court of Beijing
City on Dec. 20 on bribery charges.
During the trial, Zhang was accused of making a profit from
giving an unlicensed company the right to supply imported paper for
lottery tickets. He was also accused of accepting 20,000 U.S.
dollars and a cell phone worth 7,480 yuan (around 1,000 U.S.
dollars) from the company, identified as Beijing-based
Nanhaiyangguang Science and Technology Limited, between September
2003 and 2004.
He was convicted of bribery on the same day, along with Liu
Feng, another official in charge of lottery ticket printing, who
granted the supply contract to the company.
Liu was given a prison term of four years after being found
guilty of receiving 10,000 U.S. dollars and 10,000 yuan from the
same company.
Zhang Yan, who is Zhang Weihua's lawyer, told reporters that his
client had drafted an appeal shortly after the first trial. The
document has been submitted to the Higher People's Court of
Beijing.
"My client insisted it was untenable to say he received a
10,000-U.S. -dollar bribe as when he took home a box of mooncakes
in 2004, he was totally unaware of the 10,000 U.S. dollar bribe
hidden inside the mooncake box. When he found the money, Zhang
reported it to disciplinary inspection officials of the General
Administration of Sports of China, and returned the money later,"
said the lawyer.
In initial trial, however, testimony from an unidentified
witness who allegedly gave the mooncake box to Zhang in person
stated there were 20,000 U.S. dollars and a mobile phone inside the
mooncake box.
Zhang and Liu reportedly returned the bribes in 2005, more than
a year after they had accepted them, out of fear that they would be
found out during the annual government audit.
"My client also believes some evidence favorable to him was
neglected in the first trial, and there was doubt about the cell
phone," said the the lawyer. The person who gave the bribe "claimed
the cell phone was given to Zhang around the National Day Holiday
season in October 2004, but the type of the cell phone mentioned
during the previous court trial was not for sale until December
2004, so it was not possible for Zhang to accept a cell phone that
was not on sale."
The China Welfare Lottery Administrative Center and the Sports
Lottery Administrative Center of China General Administration of
Sport are the only two legitimate lottery vendors in China and are
both state-run.
China launched its first lottery in June 1987. Lottery ticket
sales are one of the major sources of funds for building community
sports facilities and financing social welfare programs.
(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2008)