The Higher People's Court of Hunan Province overruled the appeals of two senior government officials and upheld the previous decision of death penalty, said local officials on Friday.

Li Dalun, 59, former secretary of Communist Party of China (CPC) Chenzhou Municipal Committee, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes and other illegal gifts valued at nearly 14 million yuan (2.1 million U.S. dollars), in exchange for giving out promotions, contracts, mining permits and other gains between February 1999 to May 2006.

Zeng Jinchun, 62, former secretary of the CPC Chenzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, was sentenced to death for taking 31 million yuan in bribes since the latter half of 1997 through September 2006

Both death penalties and the reprieve were ordered by the Intermediate People's Court of Changsha, Hunan's capital on November 20, 2008. The court also ruled that the money, together with some other belongings that the pair failed to account for, will be confiscated by the government.

Li and Zeng lodged appeals after the verdict.

The Higher People's Court of Hunan ruled that Li's crimes were serious. But as he voluntarily confessed to taking bribes judiciary authorities did not know about and turned in all his illicit money, the court confirmed his reprieve.

Zeng, who also served as vice secretary of the CPC Chenzhou Municipal Committee, aroused public anger with his conduct and the court upheld the death penalty.

The death penalty has to be approved by China's Supreme People's Court before execution.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2009)