Chinese courts ordered to hand down harsh punishments

CHANGCHUN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Thursday urged courts at all levels to severely punish serious crimes to make the public feel safer.

Zhou Qiang, the SPC president, told presidents of higher courts across the country at a symposium held here, that harsh punishments should be handed down to those committing the crime of jeopardizing state security, and other felonies, including homicide, robbery, offences involving explosions and mafia gang crimes.

People who spread fabricated information that causes panic and those who violate the lawful rights and interests of juveniles should also be penalized severely, according to the SPC president.

Zhou also stressed harshly punishing food and drug safety related crimes, those who produce and sell fake and shoddy products, damage arable land and pollute the environment.

Also at Thursday's symposium, Zhou ordered courts at all levels to prevent and correct wrongly-judged cases.

Courts at all levels should carry out trials independently and guarantee the rights of lawyers, Zhou added.

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