That's certainly possible -- lawfare definitely happens in the West (Russiagate, anti-Corbynism and Lava Jato come to mind).
But if it was simply about political maneuvering, death penalties are wasteful and severe. So that suggests that there is more to it.
Maybe it's a cynical view, but I wouldn't be surprised if anticorruption laws were used to get rid of someone for other reasons, especially by corrupt people.