11 prosecuted in C China for gang-related case

BEIJING - A public prosecution was initiated Thursday against 11 people involved in a major gang-related case, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

The case has been filed by the Yiyang Municipal People's Procuratorate in central China's Hunan Province to the Yiyang Intermediate People's Court, the SPP said.

The indictment said the mafia-like gang formed and led by Xia Shun'an has conducted illegal construction around Dongting Lake, severely damaging the ecological environment of the lake and the local economic and social order.

To intensify their illicit control over the area, the gang has resorted to approaches like coercion and forcible occupation of fishing boats to bully and oppress people and has raked in a huge amount of illegal gains by committing organized crimes.

It was also charged with bribing civil servants to turn them into "protective umbrellas" for illegal shelter, according to the indictment.

The indictment said the defendants should be given criminal sanctions for the crimes of forming, leading and taking an active part in organizations in the nature of criminal syndicate, creating disturbances, illegal mining and others.

Prosecutors have informed the defendants of their rights, interrogated them and heard their opinions, the SPP said.