Ten people who illegally imprisoned 10 petitioners in Beijing last year received jail sentences ranging from six months to two years at a court Tuesday morning.

Wang Gaowei and his other nine accomplices, natives of Yuzhou City in central China's Henan Province, imprisoned the 10 petitioners, also from Henan, in April 2012.

They were falsely imprisoned at two courtyards in Wangsiying Township in Beijing's Chaoyang District for several days, according to the Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court.

The court ruled that Wang and the other nine respondents had infringed the personal rights of the 10 petitioners, which constituted the crime of false imprisonment.

As well as the jail sentences, the guilty will also have to pay compensation, the court said. Endi