A Chinese court on Friday sentenced four Government workers to between three and a half and 11 years' jail over a dispute that left a roadside vendor dead, state media reported, unleashing fresh accusations of official privilege.
The death of 56-year-old watermelon seller Deng Zhengjia in July in the central province of Hunan — which domestic media blamed on the local enforcement officers, or "chengguan", but the county Government said happened spontaneously — had triggered public fury over perceived abuse of power.
Four chengguan convicted of intentional injury over the event received sentences of three and a half, four, six and 11 years, the official news agency Xinhua said on a social media account.