Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court Thursday started to hear the appeal of Wen Qiang, a former senior judicial official who was sentenced to death by a lower court April 14 for four counts of crime including protecting gangs.

Thursday's court hearing was open to the public.

A spokesman for Chongqing Municipal Higher People's Court said they would also go over the appeals made by four other appellants, namely, Wen's wife Zhou Xiaoya, as well as three other former police officers of Huang Daiqiang, Zhao Liming and Chen Tao. The four were also convicted in the first-instant trial conducted April 14 and were given jail terms ranging from eight to 20 years.

The 55-year-old Wen served as vice director of the Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau from 1992 to 2008, and later as director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau until he was arrested in September 2009.

According to a verdict issued by the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court April 14, Wen was convicted of accepting bribes, protecting criminal gangs, rape and failing to account for his cash and assets.

The verdict said Wen took bribes totaling more than 12 million yuan (1.76 million U.S. dollars) personally or through his wife from 1996 to 2009. In return, Wen offered posts for officials and helped companies and business people obtain illegal profits.

Wen was also convicted of shielding five major organized crime gangs in Chongqing after accepting bribes worth 756,500 yuan.

In August 2007, Wen raped a university student after getting her drunk, the verdict said.

Wen failed to account for the sources of more than 10 million yuan in personal assets.

Apart from being given a death penalty at the first-instant trial held on April 14, Wen was confiscated of all his personal property and deprived of his lifetime political rights.