Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
Brothers take a hostage to pay for mom's care
By Li Xinran |
September 28, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO brothers who tried to pay for their mother's medical treatment by abducting a hostage in downtown Guangzhou last April were sentenced yesterday.
Baiyun District People's Court in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province in south China, sentenced Zhang Fangshu to five years and six months behind bars and fined him 2,000 yuan (US$292).
His younger brother Zhang Fangjun was given a lighter two-year suspended sentence and fined 1,000 yuan. The two Zhangs were then invited by the judge to accept a free session with a psychologist together with their mother Xie Shoucui.
The pair, from Chongqing Municipality, kidnapped a woman surnamed Kuang on April 21 to extort money to cover Xie's medical treatment.
Zhang Fangshu held a knife to Kuang's throat while his brother stood next to him displaying a poster demanding 18,000 yuan in loans from the government. They refused to release the hostage but were overpowered by police officers.
The court said it decided on a light penalty because it found the brothers didn't actually harm the hostage or take the money, and their only motive was to save their mother's life.
Earlier media reports said Xie, who had never left her hometown in Chongqing before, visited Guangzhou on September 24 to plead on behalf of her sons.
Baiyun District People's Court in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province in south China, sentenced Zhang Fangshu to five years and six months behind bars and fined him 2,000 yuan (US$292).
His younger brother Zhang Fangjun was given a lighter two-year suspended sentence and fined 1,000 yuan. The two Zhangs were then invited by the judge to accept a free session with a psychologist together with their mother Xie Shoucui.
The pair, from Chongqing Municipality, kidnapped a woman surnamed Kuang on April 21 to extort money to cover Xie's medical treatment.
Zhang Fangshu held a knife to Kuang's throat while his brother stood next to him displaying a poster demanding 18,000 yuan in loans from the government. They refused to release the hostage but were overpowered by police officers.
The court said it decided on a light penalty because it found the brothers didn't actually harm the hostage or take the money, and their only motive was to save their mother's life.
Earlier media reports said Xie, who had never left her hometown in Chongqing before, visited Guangzhou on September 24 to plead on behalf of her sons.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
