CHINA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF COP

in China, a Beijing court sentenced two cousins from Henan Province to death for murdering a police officer. Zhang Xinlei, 24, and Zhang Xinliang, 35, were convicted in Beijing No 1 People's Court of killing Tang Chengwen, 39, a police officer in Beijing's suburban Mentougou District on October 22, 2006. The court meted out death sentences to both cousins, but gave Zhang Xinliang a two-year reprieve. It said the men were also guilty of sabotaging public communications facilities and theft. The court said the two, along with Lu Haihong, who was sentenced to five years in jail, stole 197 meters of telecommunications cables at midnight on October 22, 2006, before committing the murder. The three drove a van carrying the stolen cables through a police checkpoint. Tang chased and stopped the van, but was then beaten to death. Another four people were given jail terms from 18 months to 30 months for harboring the men, the court said.