The penalties for people who offer bribes should be toughened to strengthen the country’s fight against corruption, legal experts say.
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For years, courts have been giving light sentences to people providing bribes, and in some cases failing to punish them at all, said Ren Jianming, director of Beihang University’s clean-governance research and education center.
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He said his information is based on a provincial court’s research report.
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A report in June by Changzhou’s Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu province also found that low- to mid-level courts in the city heard 209 cases in 2009 and 2010 involving people accepting bribes, although the number of trials for people who paid bribes was only 20.
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Among the people involved in those 20 cases, 14 were sentenced, with 11 given probation and another six freed without punishment, the report said.
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The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has given criminal punishments to 4,217 people who paid bribes in 2011, a 6.2 percent year-on-year increase.
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However, Ren said he does not believe the measures will deter people from offering bribes.
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"Some judicial authorities give heavy penalties for people who accept bribes, but they show too much leniency when dealing with those providing the bribes," he said.