FORMER Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who was detained on a visit to China in 2018, was today sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for bribery, in a case that shook the international police organisation.

Meng – a former vice-minister for public security – is among a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft campaign, which critics said has also served as a way to remove the leader’s political enemies.

He vanished during a visit to China from France, where Interpol is based, and was later accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party.

His wife was granted political asylum in France last year after saying she was afraid that she and her two children would be the targets of kidnapping attempts.

Meng was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison and fined two million yuan (RM1.2 million), said the Tianjin First Intermediate People’s Court.

At his trial last June, he pleaded guilty to accepting US$2.1 million (RM8.5 million) in bribes after the court said he used his status and position to “seek improper benefit” and accumulate bribes.

The court statement today said Meng “truthfully confessed to all the criminal facts” and will not appeal the decision. – AFP, January 21, 2020.