The Higher People's Court of southwest China's Yunnan Province dismissed the appeals by four appellants including Sun Xiaoguo and affirmed the original judgment Tuesday.
The initial decision made by the Intermediate People's Court of Yuxi in Yunnan in November was appealed by eight defendants. The other four defendants confessed and pled guilty during the second trial and were given lenient punishment in accordance with the law.
Sun was handed a 25-year prison term in the original verdict for committing multiple crimes including organizing and leading mafia-like organizations. All of Sun's personal assets will be confiscated.
The other 12 defendants in the same case were given prison terms of various lengths, ranging from two and a half years to 15 years, plus fines, for participating in mafia-like organizations.
The Higher People's Court of Yunnan Province stood by the first verdict as "the facts were clear, the evidence was reliable and sufficient, the sentences were accurate and appropriate, and the trial was carried out in accordance with due litigation procedures."
In a separate case, Sun was retried on Oct. 14 at the Higher People's Court of Yunnan Province for rape, insulting women by forcible means, intentionally inflicting injury upon others and creating disturbances. The court has yet to announce the verdict.
Sun was found guilty of the same crimes and sentenced to death in 1998, but finally received 20 years of imprisonment after a retrial in 2007. He was released in 2010 after several reductions to his sentence, serving only 12 years and five months in prison.
In July 2019, the Higher People's Court of Yunnan Province decided that the verdict in 2007 was incorrect and the case should be reheard.
