Members of drug gang change pleas

Law experts say convicted killers are trying to delay their executions

Six members of a notorious Myanmar drug gang convicted last year of murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River withdrew their earlier guilty pleas and denied plotting the murders at an appeal hearing in the Yunnan Provincial Higher People's Court on Thursday.

Naw Kham, head of the gang that murdered 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year, attends a court session at the Yunnan Provincial Higher People's Court on Thursday. LIU XUEBIN / FOR CHINA DAILY

Last month, they had pleaded guilty at the Intermediate People's Court of Kunming, Yunnan province, and four of them were sentenced to death.

Of the other two, Zha Bo received the death sentence with a reprieve, and Zha Tuobo was sentenced to eight years in prison.

All are now appealing their sentences to a higher court and revoking their guilty pleas, which experts suggest is a legal ploy to delay their executions.

The court's decision on the appeal will be handed down at a later date.

Naw Kham, head of the drug gang, said on Thursday he "neither plotted nor ordered the murder" of Chinese sailors in October 2011.

"I have done nothing wrong. I didn't order them to commit murder, and I only heard about it afterward," he told the court.

The other five defendants, all foreigners or stateless, also denied the crimes. They said they considered the intermediate court's sentences too harsh and appealed for leniency.

The Yunnan Provincial People's Procuratorate said the convictions are fair and the sentences are appropriate, considering the crime.