China jails four for 'suicide protest'

Two people died in the alleged suicide attempt

Four alleged members of China's banned Falun Gong spiritual movement have been jailed for organising a mass suicide attempt in Beijing.

The official Xinhua news agency said the court in Beijing had sentenced one man to life imprisonment and three others to terms of between seven and 15 years.

We are forbidden to kill, including suicide

Falun Gong spokeswoman

The Chinese authorities accuse the four of encouraging members of Falun Gong to set themselves alight in Tiananmen Square in January.

Falun Gong says none of them were members, and says its teachings do not condone suicide.

A spokeswoman in Hong Kong said the jail sentences were part of a smear campaign.

"We are forbidden to kill, including suicide," she said.

Convicted

China outlawed the Falun Gong movement, which teaches meditation and exercise, in July 1999 after branding it an "evil cult".

In the incident on 23 January, five people doused themselves in petrol and set themselves alight. Two of them - a woman and her 12-year-old daughter - died of their injuries, and two others were seriously burned.

China says the group is an "evil cult"

Xinhua said the man jailed for life, 57-year-old former factory worker Liu Yunfang, was found guilty of printing pamphlets encouraging Falun Gong followers to commit suicide.

Wang Jindong was jailed for 15 years for accompanying him to the capital, while Xue Hongjun, 49, Liu Xiuqin, 34, received sentences of 10 and seven years respectively, the agency said.

The verdict on a fifth person, a woman, will be announced later on Friday.

No details of the evidence against them has been released.

Our correspondent in Beijing says the jail sentences reinforce the Communist Party's message that organisers of Falun Gong protests will receive harsh treatment.

Since it was banned, Falun Gong says more than 50,000 practitioners have been sent to prisons, labour camps and mental hospitals. Human rights groups say about 200 of them have died from torture during detention.

Falun Gong, which insists it has no political motives, says its teachings promote health and good citizenship.

But Beijing blames the group for the deaths of hundreds of followers by advising them not to seek medical treatment when ill.