A 36-member gang of human traffickers were given sentences ranging from death to two years in jails by the Intermediate People's Court of Honghe Hani and Yi Nationalities Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Two of the traffickers, An Yongquan and Zhang Daochen, were sentenced to death and deprived of their political rights for life. All their personal properties were confiscated, according to the court verdict made public on Saturday.

An was charged of kidnapping and selling, on his own or colluding with others, 12 women and 13 children, and Zhang was accused of kidnapping and selling 23 women.

Three people of the gang, Bi Lanfen, He Xiufen and Yu Xiuying were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. The court also deprived them of their political rights for life and confiscated all their personal properties.

Bi was charged of kidnapping and selling, on her own or colluding with others, 19 women and three children, He was charged of kidnapping 12 women and five children and cheated others' money totaling 10,200 yuan, and Yu was accused of kidnapping and selling 14 women and one child.

Two of the gang were each fined 5,000 yuan (about 600 US dollars).

The rest of the gang were given penalties ranging from life imprisonment to two years in jail, according to the court verdict.

The court found that the gang kidnapped and sold 74 women and 22 children, and cheated other people's money totaling 61,750 yuan (about 7,66 US dollars) in a 12-year period from 1991 to May of 2003.

(China Daily October 4, 2004)