Forbidden City robber gets 13-year jail term

A Chinese farmer got 13-year jail term Monday for stealing art pieces from the Forbidden City last year, court authorities said.

Shi Baikui, 27, was fined 13,000 yuan (2,059 U.S. dollars) and was deprived of his political rights for three years, according to the ruling announced by the Second Intermediate People's Court in Beijing Monday morning.

Shi, from eastern Shandong Province, broke into the heavily guarded former home of Chinese emperors in the heart of Beijing, and stolen nine art pieces made of gold and jewels, on May 8, 2011, the court said in a statement.

While hastily escaping, Shi left behind five of the pieces in the Forbidden City's compound. Failing to immediately sell the treasures, he threw the other four pieces away the next day, the document said.

Six pieces were recovered and the three missing were estimated to be worth 150,000 yuan (23,760 U.S. dollars) in total.

Shi was apprehended by police at an Internet cafe in Beijing's Fengtai district 58 hours after the theft.