Three standing trial for luring foreign prostitutes

Three people stood trial on Friday in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, accused of sheltering and introducing foreign women to prostitution.

Since August, a 30-year-old resident surnamed Lai from Hangzhou's Binjiang district, conspired with Yang, a 26-year-old female from Pu'er, Yunnan province, to organize prostitution by luring clients through WeChat public accounts, the court heard.

According to their agreement, Lai was responsible for providing clients and venues, while Yang enticed four foreign women from Columbia, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to Hangzhou for prostitution at an apartment in Binjiang district. They were soon detained by local police during a crackdown in early September.

The women have been deported.

Yang, who speaks fluent English, claimed that she came from Ukraine when seized by the police, seeking to evade criminal charges and penalties.

"All these efforts are futile as whoever commits crimes, Chinese or foreigners, will receive punishments in line with laws in China," said a judge from the Binjiang District People's Court, who is in charge of the case.

The court will hand down a verdict at a later date.