Four defendants, Chen Wenshu, Wang Cheng, Bai Yuquan and Jin Jiming, were sentenced to life in prison and to deprivation of all political rights for organizing and trafficking human beings across the border illegally.

The other 38 defendants, also charged with trafficking human beings across the border illegally and illegal possession of ammunition, were sentenced to terms ranging from two to 15 years. They were also fined according to the law.

The evidence, proven by the court, shows that, between June 1998 and November 2000, the accused engaged in human trafficking 38 times via the international maritime shipping routes linking China to Japan and the Republic of Korea. A total of 713 illegal immigrants were transported to foreign countries.

Most of the accused were officials of maritime shipping companies and captains and crewmembers of ocean freighters based in east China's Anhui, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, court officials said.

The accused had either leased or purchased ocean freighters and then used the ships for their human trafficking purposes. To avoid detection, they had built secret cabins, provided fraudulent seaman's identity cards and picked up the illegal immigrants at sea after passing port exit checks.

The court ruled that the accused were guilty of clandestinely organizing, assisting and transporting humans across the border illegally and sentenced the defendants in accordance with the penal code of the People's Republic of China.

One of the accused, Xu Fei, was also found guilty of the illegal possession of ammunition.

More than 200 people, including the families of the accused and representatives from all walks of life, attended the trial to listen to the debate and the sentences.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2003)