CHINA. THREE MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ORGANIZED CRIME

three leaders of a 31-member organized crime ring in east China were given death sentences after being convicted of 10 charges, including murder.
Li Wei, Wang Qianjin and Li Ya received the sentences after a preliminary trial at the Intermediate People's Court of Bozhou, in northwestern Anhui.
The court heard that defendant Li Wei had built up the crime ring from 2002 when he was jailed for blackmail and racketeering. The organization frequented entertainment venues, shops and dock areas in Bozhou, where they conspired to commit murder and extortion.
The verdict cited one case of murder on September 9, 2004. An assailant had slashed Li Wei with a knife that evening, and he suspected a rival known as Yang Dazhong of being behind the attack.
Li Wei dispatched six of his henchmen, including Li Ya and Wang Qianjin, who donned masks and sneaked into a local hospital ward where Yang was staying. Wang Qianjin stabbed Yang in the face. Yang later died of respiratory failure. Li Wei was arrested in September 2005.
Li Wei, Wang Qianjin and Li Ya were all deprived of political rights for life, while the remaining 28 members of the ring were jailed for terms ranging from three months to life imprisonment.