Court sentences Beijing 'airport bomber' to 6 years in prison

A Beijing court has sentenced a wheelchair-bound man, who set off a homemade explosive inside Beijing Capital International Airport in July, to six years in prison, CNN reported.

Ji Zhongxing, 34, from Shandong province, was found guilty of setting off an explosive device in a public place, according to a statement released by Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court.

It said that an investigation had found that Ji, who claimed he had been paralyzed after being beaten by security guards, was dissatisfied with how he had been treated by authorities.

The court said the explosive device was contained inside a green canvas bag with the Chinese characters for revenge written on it and Ji hid the device inside his pants to evade airport security checks.

At around 6pm local time on July 20, Ji handed out leaflets detailing his grievances outside the exit of terminal 3, the statement said.

He then passed the explosive from hand to hand while police officers tried to persuade him not to detonate the device. Ji's arm was seriously injured during the explosion and a policeman also sustained injuries.

On his personal blog in 2006, Ji had said he had been attacked and beaten by security guards outside a police station in 2005 after carrying a passenger on his motorcycle. He was paralyzed after the incident and petitioned for official compensation.

The attack took place while Ji was working in Dongguan, a factory town in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.