Photo:People's Daily

 
A public prosecution has been initiated against Gou Zhongwen, a former member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the national political advisory body, on charges of accepting bribes and abusing power, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) announced on Wednesday. 

Prosecutors from Yancheng People's Procuratorate in East China's Jiangsu Province have filed Gou's case with the Intermediate People's Court of Yancheng, the SPP said.

During the review and prosecution process, the procuratorial authorities informed the defendant of his legal rights and listened to the opinions of his defense counsel in accordance with the law.

Gou leveraged his official positions — including vice mayor of Beijing municipal government, member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, and the head of the General Administration of Sport of China — to seek benefits for others and illegally accepted an especially large amount of money and property, the SPP said.

Gou abused his authority, causing significant losses to public property as well as the interests of the state and the people, with the circumstances being especially severe. Therefore, he will be held criminally liable for the crimes of accepting bribes and abuse of power in accordance with the law, said the SPP.

Global Times