CHINA. POLITICIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH

Hou Jianjun, a Chinese provincial legislator, was sentenced to death after he murdered a pedestrian in a drunken rage by running him down with his sports utility vehicle.
Jianjun, 43, was sentenced to death by the Fushun intermediate court and ordered to pay 155,000 yuan ($25,000) to the family of the murdered victim. Hou was found guilty of running down Qiu Ji, 55, with his vehicle in north-eastern Liaoning province in the early hours of March 28 after Qiu had apparently brushed by the rear view mirror of the car.
Qiu was run down on a footpath and later died from a skull fracture and haemorrhaging. Hou fled the scene, but later surrendered to police. He was also convicted of being drunk at the time of the crime. Hou, a deputy in the Lianing Provincial People's Congress also was the chairman of the board of Xingye Mechanisation Transport Co Ltd. He was expected to appeal the sentence.