FORMER CHINA FOOD AND DRUG BOSS APPEALS DEATH SENTENCE

June 12, 2007: the former head of China's food and drug agency has appealed his death sentence on a corruption conviction, calling it "too severe," state media reported.
Zheng Xiaoyu was sentenced to death in late May after being found guilty of accepting 6.5 million yuan (850,000 dollars) in bribes in exchange for granting approvals for hundreds of medicines, some of which proved dangerous. A Beijing court handed down the ultimate penalty on May 29. But Zheng, 62, has since asked the court for leniency, saying he had confessed his crimes and cooperated with an investigation. The report did not specify when the appeal was entered. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 12/06/2007)