A FORMER district official in Foshan City, Guangdong Province pledged not guilty after he was sentenced to four years in jail for taking bribes and slandering his colleague.
Liang Ruiqiang, former deputy director of Gaoming District, said the evidence was obtained illegally by police and he didn't spread any rumor about the corruption of his colleague, Ma Liangzhao, who is the district's Party Secretary, Guangzhou Daily reported today.
The Foshan City People's Court said Liang tried to denounce Ma by posting foul stories on several Chinese websites from July 2009, saying Ma took massive bribes from some companies to help them get approval for construction projects.
The post also said Ma's mistress teamed up with her alleged lover and stole valuables worth more than 5 million yuan (US$755,515), all kickbacks from developers, from Ma's house in June 2008.
An investigation by anti-corruption officials vindicated Ma of the false charge and found Liang was actually guilty of bribery.
Liang was convicted of taking 150,000 yuan in bribes in exchange for helping two companies to win their bid for projects.
Liang's two complices, Liang Weixiong and Lin Jianbo, also pledged not guilty of slandering but they admitted helping Liang to post the rumor online.
The court said Liang thought of denouncing Ma after Ma requested the auditors to check the fiscal status of a company that cooperated with Liang when he was in charge of the city's transportation bureau. Liang believed Ma tried to remove him from his post, Guangzhou Daily said.
By Zhang Xuanchen
