Beijing Airport Bomber Sentenced to Six Years: Report

Ji Zhongxing, better known as the Beijing Airport Bomber, was sentenced to six years in prison by the Chaoyang District People's Court, according to the South China Morning Post.

Ji, originally from Shandong province, who detonated a homemade device at Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3 on July 20, was found guilty of "causing bodily harm with an explosive device." His sentence of six years was between its minimum  of three and maximum of 10 years, SCMP reported, a seemingly lenient ruling considering that is act could have been classified as terrorism, with an accordingly harsher punishment. Ji had stated at the time that his act was one of desperation, intending only to call attention to his demand for redress over a 2005 case in which he had been maimed by security guards in Dongguan, Guangdong, leaving him in a wheelchair and unable to walk.

He appeared in court in on a stretcher during his September trial. Chinese netizens were surprisingly sympathetic to Ji's plight, many accepting his explanation that he did not want to harm anyone, and that the detonation was only accidental. Ji was the only person injured in the explosion.

Despite the explosion, Terminal 3 returned quickly to normal on the night of July 20. When visited by an editor from the Beijinger only four hours after the blast, there was no smell of smoke nor even sign of additional security, and flight operations were not disrupted.

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