On June 11, 2015, Xinhua reported that China’s ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to life in prison. He is the most senior Communist official to face corruption charges. Zhou is 72 years old.
Xinhua reported that the Tianjin Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court held the on camera trial on May 22, 2015. The charges included taking bribes, abuse of power, and intentional disclosure of State secrets. For the charge of bribery, he was sentenced to life in prison, with his political rights deprived for life and his personal assets confiscated. For the abuse of power, Zhou also received seven years and for the intentional disclosure of State secrets, he received four years.
Xinhua reported that the court found that on bribery, there were mitigating factors including his confession and his remorse; his abuse of power charge was particularly serious; intentional disclosure of State secrets was also particularly serious but there were not any particularly serious consequences.
On July 29, 2014, Zhou had been placed under investigation on suspicion of "serious disciplinary violations." Zhou was expelled from the Communist Party and arrested in December 2014. On April 3, 2015, Zhou was charged with bribery, abuse of power, and intentional disclosure of State secrets.
Source: Xinhua, June 11, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2015-06/11/c_1115590304.htm