The Intermediate People's Court of Shanwei, a coastal city in south China's Guangdong Province, today sentenced a group of pirates convicted of robbery and the murder of seamen in the South China Sea.

According to the first-instance court trial, Soni Wee, an Indonesian national, and Weng Siliang and 36 other Chinese nationals committed a series of criminal acts including ship robbery, mass murder, drug smuggling, and the illegal possession of firearms.

Thirteen criminals including Soni Wee and Weng Siliang were sentenced to death, 19 received sentences ranging from life imprisonment to shorter terms, and six suspects were declared not guilty.

From August to November 1997, those sentenced robbed three Chinese and foreign ships, including the Singapore oil tanker " Loishan" and the Chinese cargo ship "Cheung Son." Twenty-three Chinese seamen aboard the "Cheung Son" were killed by the pirates.

More than 200 people attended the public sentencing, which followed a six-day trial.