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China: death sentence for the author of the car-ramming attack which left 35 dead in November
The author of the car-ramming attack which left 35 dead in November in the Chinese province of Guangdong (south), the worst attack in the country in ten years, was sentenced to the death penalty on Friday, according to state television CCTV. Fan Weiqiu, 62, was convicted of committing the act for personal reasons “in an extremely despicable manner”, according to the court cited by CCTV. On November 11, Fan Weiqiu deliberately drove his SUV into people exercising in front of a sports complex in Zhuhai. He was arrested at the scene after inflicting self-inflicted knife wounds and falling into a coma, police said at the time. However, he was tried publicly on Friday in the presence of relatives of the victims, and pleaded guilty, according to the same source. The verdict was announced the same day. The court highlighted the motivations as “extremely despicable, the nature of the crime particularly egregious, the method particularly cruel, and the consequences particularly serious, inflicting significant harm on society”, according to CCTV. Fan Weiqiu “decided to express his anger” for “a broken marriage, personal frustrations, and his dissatisfaction over the division of property after the divorce”, according to the same source. China has experienced this year a number of deadly incidents – from stabbing attacks to car ramming attacks committed by isolated individuals – which contrasted with its reputation for good public security, achieved at the cost of significant social control. Some experts have a link between these incidents and the frustration caused by the slowdown of the Chinese economy. – calls for firmness – After the attack in Zhuhai, it took almost 24 hours for the authorities to recognize that dozens of people had been killed, and the videos as well as the comments had been censored on the internet. An improvised memorial in front of the sports center where the events took place was quickly deleted, one of the employees responsible for clearing it indicating that it was a “order from above”. The anger and emotion aroused by this attack were however very present on Friday, with Internet users welcoming the rapid verdict on the microblogging platform Weibo, and some calling for its execution without delay. The author facts “should not have the possibility of celebrating the New Year”, wrote one Internet user. On Monday, it was a man accused of having thrown his car last month against a crowd made up mainly of children school age, causing 30 injuries, who was sentenced to a suspended death sentence, a sentence whose execution is suspended for two years, and which is often commuted to life imprisonment in the absence of new crimes or offenses .On Weibo, many Internet users also criticized a sentence considered too lenient. The court also considered that the condemned had acted to “evacuate personal emotions”, particularly after “financial losses following investments” and “family conflicts”.mya-reb /ib/lpt/oaa/mr
