Fifteen Falun Gong followers were jailed for terms of four to 20 years Friday for hijacking cable television transmissions and broadcasting a propaganda program for the cult.

The chief judge presiding over the "March 5 case" stressed that their sentences had nothing to do with their obsession with Falun Gong.

"These cable TV saboteurs were tried and sentenced according to law, not because they are Falun Gong followers," chief judge Zhang Hui told Xinhua after the trial was wound up at the Intermediary People's Court of Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

The 15 saboteurs, including Zhou Runjun, Liu Chengjun, Liang Zhenxing and Liu Weiming, were sentenced to imprison for sabotaging cable TV network facilities in Changchun and Songyuan cities.

"These saboteurs have committed a gang crime," said Liu Rongsheng, a procurator from the Changchun People's Procuratorate.

"They have violated clause one of Article 124 and clause one of Article 300 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, and they are convicted of sabotaging broadcast and television facilities and of undermining enforcement of the state's laws by organizing and using cults," Liu said.

Jia Guofa, an associate professor with the Northeast China Normal University, who has watched the trial since it began Wednesday, said, "I personally think the court's conviction of the criminals is based on clear and adequate evidence, and the sentences are fair."

"The trial proceeded with the usual strict and thorough procedures, with no modifications because they are Falun Gong followers," Jia said.

According to local police authorities, at about 7:00 p.m. on March 5 this year, people in Changchun and Songyuan cities were watching regular TV programs, when, to their surprise, Falun Gong devotees hijacked the cable TV transmission and broadcast a propaganda program for the cult through their own broadcast equipment.

Due to the hijacking, two trunk cables of the transmission network in Changchun were cut off, and subscribers to the network in four districts of the city could not watch programs as usual. The hijacking also resulted in the suspension of programs for 210 minutes and subjected 16,000 people to video and audio propaganda of the Falun Gong cult.

Many people in Changchun phoned the local police bureau, calling for a thorough investigation. More than 300 Changchun residents came to court to watch the trial of the TV saboteurs.

"Cable TV is a paid service, a lawful right that should be protected, but those Falun Gong followers have seriously disturbed broadcasts and must be punished," said Li Dawei, whose cable TV service was cut off on March 5.

"It's immoral to do this disgusting thing," said Wang Guilan, 55, a resident of Nanguan District of Changchun. "I was greatly depressed that night and could not sleep well."

"Falun Gong has not only seriously disturbed public order and people's private lives, but also cheated me and caused great trouble to my family," said a sobbing Li Xiaojie, whose husband, Liu Weiming, was jailed for 20 years for his role in the crime.

"At the beginning, I just wanted to practice Falun Gong to improve my physical condition, but it has not done any good to my health and it has ruined my family," said Li, who has broken with the cult.

According to police officer Li Shichang, of Changchun Public Security Bureau, the carefully-planned crime was supported by Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi and the headquarters of the cult, and had also received technical guidance from the cult's website.

Li Jie, deputy president of the law school of Jilin University, said the Falun Gong followers had committed the crime of sabotaging broadcast and television facilities, a crime which is clearly stipulated in the Criminal Law.

"Every country in the world punishes those who sabotage public facilities according to law, no matter what their political aims or religious beliefs," Li Jie said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2002)