China Amends Criminal Law for Combating Terrorism

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 25, 2001

China Amends Criminal Law for Combating Terrorism

The draft third amendment of the law was tabled at a session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Monday. The amendment was formulated "to deal more harshly with criminal acts of terrorists, for the protection of national security, social order and safeguard of safety of people's lives and property" .

A Shanghai man has been sentenced to four years in prison for "endangering public security" by mailing letters containing a substance claimed to be anthrax to a government department and a media office in this city.

Xiao Yongling, 27, a resident of Dongjing Town in the Jinshan District of Shanghai, sent the letters containing "fake anthrax" on October 18.

The Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Xiao had endangered public security by causing a terrorist threat.

Amendments

A person joking about putting anthrax powder in a mail may end up with a 5-year imprisonment according to a draft amendment of China's Criminal Law.

The amendment was formulated "to deal more harshly with criminal acts of terrorists, for the protection of national security, social order and safeguard of safety of people's lives and property".

The draft third amendment of the law was tabled at a session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Monday morning.

According to the draft amendment, any person who seriously disturbs social order by making up threat of explosion, threat of bio-chemical, threat of radiation and other terrorist information,or by knowingly disseminating terrorist information of a fabricated nature, will be punished with a maximum imprisonment of five years.

The punishment may be severer if serious consequences occur, according to the draft.

Briefing the 25th session of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee on the third amendment, Hu Kangsheng, deputy director of the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, said in view of the new terrorist practice of spreading anthrax bacteria through the mail, the amendment stipulates that those who commit crimes like spreading poisonous, radioactive or contagious materials will be sentenced to three or more years of imprisonment or even the death penalty.

The present Criminal Law rules that those who organize, direct or participate in terrorist activities will be sentenced to three to ten years of imprisonment.

Hu said the amendment draft stipulates that those who organize or direct terrorist activities will be sentenced to ten or more years' of imprisonment or life imprisonment, those who actively participate in such crimes will be sentenced to three to ten years, and other participants will get less than three years, or just detention or custody.

Those who sponsor terrorism will be sentenced to five or more years and their property will be confiscated.

Those who manufacture, trade, transport, store, steal, rob poisonous, radioactive or contagious materials will be sentenced to three or more years and may receive the death penalty.

Click here for full text of the current Criminal Law of China

China to Amend Criminal Law to Combat Terrorism

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