Three village officials in Sichuan Province have each been sentenced to seven years in prison for taking bribes from earthquake victims who were applying for state subsidies, a local court said Monday.

The court in Santai County, Sichuan Province, said Zuo Duyuan, An Xinwu and Yi Deyin, who are respectively the Communist Party of China (CPC) chief, village committee chief and accountant of Jinya Village, pleaded guilty and were sentenced last Monday.

The three jointly took 1,800 yuan (264 U.S. dollars) from four families in the village and demanded 26,900 yuan from 13 other families between September and November last year. The village accountant on his own demanded a bribe of 1,500 yuan.

The village officials hinted to villagers that the state subsidies for post-quake house reconstruction were limited and those who gave money to them would obtain an edge against other people.

Suspicion were aroused after a lottery was held in the village in March to distribute the subsidies, as villagers who had not bribed the officials all failed. The villagers then reported the matter to the county's anti-corruption bureau.

The court held the bribery was serious in nature because it damaged the integrity of official functions during disaster relief efforts.

(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2009)