left corner left corner
China Daily Website  

Southwestern Chinese city on red alert for terror trial

Updated: 2014-09-12 10:22
(chinadaily.com.cn)

Four suspects were tried on Friday on charges of murder and organizing a terrorist attack six months ago that turned a railway station in Southwest China’s Kunming city into a scene of bloodshed and claimed 29 lives.

The trial started at 9:00 am in Kunming's Intermediate Court, Yunnan province, the court's statement said.

As a precautionary measure, the city has intensified police patrols. Police cars were seen around a downtown square, while armed police officers guarded the court.

Eight knife-wielding assailants stormed the railway station on March 1 in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks the country has seen in recent years, which also left 130 people hospitalized.

Police shot four of the assailants dead on the scene.

If convicted, the suspects could face years behind bars or even the death penalty, according to the depth of their involvement in terrorist activities.

China's court system has strengthened processing terrorism-related cases as part of the country's anti-terror efforts.

Three were sentenced to death in June and five others were jailed over a terror attack near Beijing's Tian'anmen Square in October 2013 by a court in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

 

8.03K
 
...
 
  • Group a building block for Africa

    An unusually heavy downpour hit Durban for two days before the BRICS summit's debut on African soil, but interest for a better platform for emerging markets were still sparked at the summit.
...
...