China court sentences former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei to 13 years in prison for bribery

Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who was detained on a visit to China in 2018, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 13 years in prison for bribery. The case shook the international police organization.

Meng – a former vice minister of public security – is among a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in China’s anti-graft campaign. 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.

Meng was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison and fined $290,000, the Tianjin First Intermediate People’s Court said.

At his trial last June, he reportedly pleaded guilty to accepting $2.1 million in bribes. The court statement on Tuesday also said Meng had “truthfully confessed to all the criminal facts” and would not appeal the decision, AFP reports.