A Chinese court passed heavy sentences Wednesday on a 60-member mafia-like gang in central China's Hunan Province, extending four death sentences and jail terms from one year to life imprisonment.

Dozens of armed police had to clear the way and maintain order outside the Shaoyang City Intermediate People's Court, where the gang members were tried.

Police cars were the only vehicles allowed to entry into the court while people with visiting cards had to pass two security inspection procedures before being allowed into the court to hear the judgment, which began 8:45 am.

Yao Zhihong, He Jianbiao, Li Zhibing and Zhou Limin, leaders of the gang, were sentenced to death by the court while Chen Xuanmin,Zhu Jinsong and Li Yuncheng were given life imprisonment.

Other gang members were given jail terms from one year to over 10 years.

According to China's laws, the suspects can appeal to a higher court within 10 days after the first judgment was made, but it is still unknown whether the suspects would appeal since the defending lawyers could not be reached for comments immediately.

The mafia-like gang was accused of organizing gangs, organizing prostitution, illegal sales of firearms, illegal holding of guns, intentional injuries and robbery in a 182-page court verdict given by the Shaoyang City Intermediate People's Court, the longest in the court's history, sources said.

Before the first judgment, a 13-day public hearing was held from Oct. 22 to Nov. 3, also setting a record in the court's history.

According to the judge, the gang's leader Yao Zhihong, a former chemical plant worker, gained an illegal income of more than six million yuan (US$723,000) for himself by high-interest loaning, bribery and organizing prostitutions.

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2003)