The Miaoli District Court in central Taiwan sentenced...

The Miaoli District Court in central Taiwan sentenced to death Wang Chung-hsing, the skipper of a smuggling boat, for drowning six Chinese illegal women immigrants by throwing them off a boat while trying to escape from authorities.
The skipper of another boat carrying illegal immigrants, Ko Ching-sung was sentenced to life in prison while two crew members, Yeh Tien-sheng and Tseng Chung-ming, were jailed for three and two years respectively.
The deaths on August 26 shocked Taiwan and hogged newspaper headlines following the incident in which more women could easily have been killed.
Four Taiwanese people-smugglers travelling in two Taiwan-registered boats had thrown 26 illegal Chinese immigrants overboard as they tried to escape from a coastguard patrol.
Taiwanese authorities later found the bodies of six women in waters off Tunghsiao, a coastal town in western Taiwan.
Twelve others were rescued and eight women swam ashore and were arrested.
The tragedy triggered a war of words between Taipei and Beijing, and the Chinese authorities demanded severe punishments for the four defendants.