Man jailed 5 years for bomb hoaxes

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(Xinhua) 08:03, November 06, 2013

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A 27-year-old man who made false bomb threats affecting flights in six Chinese cities in May was sentenced to five years in jail by a court in the southern city of Shenzhen on Tuesday.

Wang Hongliang was jailed for fabricating terror information, according to a ruling by the People's Court of Bao'an District in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

According to the verdict, Wang made six bomb threat calls on May 15, causing plane diversions, emergency landings or delays of 27 flights in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing and Urumqi.

He was detained on May 16 in a hostel in Changping Township in the city of Dongguan, also in Guangdong.

The court said the bomb threats had affected flights, triggered emergency responses at airports and had severely disturbed social order.

Wang's deeds also caused economic losses to airlines. Shenzhen Airlines and Shanghai Juneyao Airlines reported that their direct economic losses caused by the hoaxes totaled about 397,071 yuan (65,082 U.S. dollars).

Under Chinese laws, those who intentionally disrupt flights by fabricating threats may receive punishments ranging from detention to a jail term of up to five years, or more than five years for those whose actions have severe consequences.

Wang said in court that he would not appeal the verdict.

China has witnessed a rising number of bomb hoaxes affecting flights in recent years. As of September this year, more than 80 cases of spreading terrorism information by calling airports or airlines had been reported, according to statistics from the Supreme Court.

In September, the Supreme Court issued an interpretation to clarify which laws and clauses should be applied in such cases of fabricating and spreading false terrorism information.

Wang is the first person to be convicted after the announcement of the interpretation.

Wang said in court that he fabricated the bomb threats to vent his anger toward the police and the government.

Wang was sentenced to two years in prison on July 9, 2003 for robbery and was later sentenced to three years in prison on June 26, 2006 for extortion, according to the court.

After his release from the prison, Wang said he had been frequently "harassed" by the police, referring to police checking his identity.

He said he once was taken away by the police shortly after he checked in to a hotel with his girlfriend, which made him feel frustrated and embarrassed.

On the day before he made the bomb hoax phone calls, Wang was again taken away by police from an Internet cafe, "which made me decide to do something to make the government pay," he said.

After making the phone calls, Wang said he felt remorseful and fled to nearby Dongguang City, only to be captured the second day.

"I didn't know that I would cause such chaos. I had only intended to get revenge against the police who checked my identification card, but now I feel very regretful," Wang said.