Principal Offenders of Robbery Cases Sentenced to DeathSeveral principal offenders of a 19-men robbery and theft gang were sentenced to death by the No.2 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing City Friday.The remaining gang members received life or fixed-term imprisonment. The sentencing was carried out with the aim of maintaining public order of the Chinese capital and acted as a precedent for future robbery and theft crimes committed just before the new year and the Chinese lunar new year + the most important festival for most Chinese people. The lunar new year falls on January 24, 2001. Li Yaping, head of the 19-robbery-gang, arranged a 45 robbery and theft movements in several Beijing districts, Tianjin City and cities of Hebei Province. They stole cars, money, mobile phones and jewelry. The group also killed one person and seriously injured another. Li was present at 21 robbery and theft cases that involved money and goods valued at 1.2 million yuan (US$140,000). |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |