Officials who commit severe corruption crimes, such as taking a huge amount of bribes, may face a new sentence now - life imprisonment without parole, according to an interpretation issued on Monday by the top judiciary authorities.
根据最高司法机关周一发布的司法解释，贪污受贿罪行严重(如受贿数额巨大)的官员现在将面临新的刑罚措施，即终身监禁、不得假释。"The life sentence without parole is a new category of penalty for corruption, which means convicts given such punishment will spend the rest of their life in prison, no matter how well they behave while serving their sentences," said Pei Xianding, chief judge of the criminal tribunal under the Supreme People's Court.
最高人民法院刑事审判庭庭长裴显鼎说：“不得假释的终身监禁是针对贪污腐败的新一类刑罚，这意味着，不管在服刑期间表现得有多好，那些被给予处罚的囚犯都将在监狱里度过余生。”In the past, a death sentence with a two-year reprieve could be commuted to a life sentence if the person convicted behaved well during the two years, and the sentence might be further cut if they continued to behave in prison, according to Pei.
裴显鼎表示，过去，被判处死刑缓期两年执行的罪犯如在缓刑期间表现良好，刑罚可减为无期徒刑；若在监狱服刑期间一直表现良好，可以继续减刑。
But under the new interpretation, convicts found guilty of embezzling or accepting bribes will not have a chance to leave prison if they are given the sentence, Pei said.
裴显鼎说，但根据最新发布的解释，死刑缓期两年执行的贪污受贿罪犯将被终身监禁。Life in prison without parole will be handed down in conjunction with a death sentence with a two-year reprieve, according to the interpretation.
该司法解释指出，判处死刑缓期两年执行的同时应当一并作出终身监禁、不得假释的决定。"For some defendants, the death penalty is too heavy and a suspended death sentence too light, so we made the new sentence after research and discussion, in a move to ensure punishments will be in line with offenses," he said.
裴显鼎说：“对于一些被告来说，死刑太过严厉，而死缓又太轻了，所以我们在调查与讨论之后制定了新的刑罚，采取这种行动来确保相关惩罚符合犯罪的程度。”Pei stressed it does not mean there will be no death penalty in corruption cases. "For those whose offenses meet the requirements of the death penalty, the courts will sentence them to death without hesitation," he added.
此外，裴显鼎强调，这并不意味着在腐败案件中就没有死刑。他补充说道：“对于那些违法犯罪行为符合死刑要求的人，法院会毫不犹豫地判处他们死刑。”