Reuters AlertNet Lite - Chinese court sentences child traffickers to jail

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Chinese court sentences child traffickers to jail

21 Mar 2007 07:38:14 GMT
Source: Reuters

BEIJING, March 21 (Reuters) - A court in China's southeastern province of Fujian has sentenced five people to jail terms of between seven years and life for kidnapping and selling children, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

The gang kidnapped four children in towns near Longyan city and sent them to the nearby city of Nan'an to sell them, the report said, without disclosing what happened to the children or what gender they were.

It said that two of the kidnappers met over the Internet and hatched their plan online.

Two of the other kidnappers were also convicted of illegal logging, Xinhua said, without elaborating.

The sale of children, and women, is a nationwide problem in China, where stringent rules on family planning allow most couples to have just one child, at least in cities.

The restrictions have bolstered a traditional bias for male offspring, seen as the mainstay for elderly parents, and have resulted in abortions, killings or abandonment of baby girls.

In 2005, a Chinese court sentenced a gang member to death for its role in running a child-trafficking ring in the prosperous southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong.

The gang had kidnapped 38 children, mostly from crowded markets, and sold them between 2001 and 2004, according to state media.

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Last updated:Wed Mar 21 07:39:34 2007