CHINA POLICE OFFICER GETS DEATH PENALTY IN MURDER OF DRIVER

a policeman who shot another driver dead in China's southwest Yunnan Province on February 13, 2009, while off duty, following a minor traffic dispute, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. The verdict against Ji Zhongchun, 42, a policeman with the Public Security Bureau of Mengzi County, was handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture. The court also stripped Ji of his political rights for life and ordered him to pay compensation of 100,000 yuan (about US$14,706) to the survivors of Pan Jun, the victim.