Russian killers of Chinese women convicted

Four Russians who killed three Chinese women in Russia's southern Siberian republic of Khakassia last year were convicted Wednesday of rape and murder, the RIA Novosti News Agency reported. The group of four robbed the women near a cemetery in Tarshebu town on May 15, before taking them to another location where the victims were killed and their bodies burnt. Three of the convicted, who were caught three days after the incident, were sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Guo Zhijun, consul general of the Chinese Consulate in Irkutsk, said his office is dedicated to maintaining the legal rights of Chinese nationals. Russia's constitutional court signed a resolution to abolish the death penalty in 2009.