Four men convicted of destroying power lines in Beijing...

Four men convicted of destroying power lines in Beijing and Hebei province have lost their appeal against the death sentence.
Wang Hui, Zhang Guoliang, Liu Qiuling and Liu Gong were sentenced to death for 32 counts of cutting power lines between January 1999 and December 2000 and selling the cable, the Beijing Morning Post said.
The four were leaders of a gang of up to 21 people involved in destroying "strategic" electrical transmission lines to Beijing's airport and to the capital's oil reserve facilities, the paper said.
"The cutting of these lines with strategic importance could have resulted in an unimaginable disaster," Beijing High Court judge Zhang Jingsheng was quoted as saying. Electricity to many homes also was cut during the crime spree, which caused 680,000 yuan (HK$640,000) damage and destroyed 56km of cable, he said.
The court was ruling on an appeal by the defendants to a lower court's sentencing, indicating they could be executed soon. Judge Zhang said the trial was held as part of the renewed Strike Hard campaign against violent and organised crime, which entered into its second year this month..