Shanghai will tolerate no blackmailers
By Cao Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-02 01:08

Blackmailers and would-be terrorists will not be tolerated, say Shanghai prosecutors.

Three suspects who called in bomb threats to extort some 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) from the Shanghai No 1 Nextage Department Store, a big shopping centre in the city, were prosecuted on Tuesday by the Shanghai No 1 Prosecutors's Office.

Another five suspects connected to extortion or blackmail cases were also prosecuted, said Shen Xinkang, a prosecutor from the office.

"We are telling anyone who would commit such crimes that we will strike back to keep the city safe."

On June 21 of this year, three farmers from Changzhou of Jiangsu Province contacted the Shanghai No 1 Nextage Department Store. The farmers said they had planted six bombs in the store and would blow them up unless money was transferred into a bank account.

The area was soon cordoned off by police, but no bomb was found. . The store was forced to shut down for an entire day, making it suffer huge losses.

The account was finally traced to a bank in Changzhou and the three blackmailers were caught the next day.

That same day, a 28-year-old Guangdong Province native named Huang Jingming threatened to blow up the Zhabei outlet of RT-Mart, a supermarket in the city. He demanded 80,000 yuan (US$9,660).

Huang was also caught the next day when he went to take the ransom,.

Between April and June, Li Maozhou from Anxi County of Fujian Province sent letters to doctors at the Central Hospital of Jing'an District, Shanghai No 1 People's Hospital and some other big hospitals in the city, threatening to tell authorities he had paid them bribes to ensure better treatment to his sick relatives. The allegations could cost the doctors their licence.

Li got altogether more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,200) from it and was caught on July 9.

"Cases like that usually lead to huge losses for both victims and police and have bad influence on the whole city," said Wu Yuehong from the office.

Wu said at the same time that when companies or individuals are blackmailed, they must contact police immediately and try to collect and save as much evidence as possible.

Anyone who intentionally fabricates and spreads terrorist information will be sentenced to terms of no less than 15 years in jail.

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