The sentence has been handed down for the perpetrator of the car-ramming attack which left 35 dead in November in the Chinese province of Guangdong, in the south of the country – the worst attack suffered by China in ten years. The man who deliberately drove his SUV into people exercising in front of a sports complex was sentenced to the death penalty on Friday, December 27. He pleaded guilty, explaining that he had committed this act for personal reasons.
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On the stand, Fan Weiqiu, 62, said he had “ expressed his anger » after a “ broken marriage ” And ” personal frustrations » linked to « division of property after divorce “. The court emphasized that these motivations were completely “ abject “, the consequences – 35 deaths – “ particularly serious “, the method “ cruel » and that the harm to society was significant enough to warrant the death penalty.
This attack tarnished the reputation of the China on the sensitive issue of public security, especially since it took almost 24 hours for the authorities to recognize that people had been killed, even though videos of the event were censored on the internet and that the improvised memorial in tribute to the victims was dismantled by the authorities.
On Monday, December 23, another man, who also drove his car into a crowd of children and injured 30 people, was also sentenced to death, but suspended. He too had acted to release personal emotions » after “ financial losses and family conflicts “. Some experts blame the slowdown in the Chinese economy to explain the increase in these deadly incidents.