Wheelchair-bound Beijing airport bomber Ji Zhongxing jailed for six years

A Beijing court has sentenced Ji Zhongxing, the frustrated petitioner who set off a home-made bomb at the Beijing International Airport in July, to six years in jail.

The wheelchair-bound petitioner was found guilty of causing bodily harm with an explosive device in the first instance ruling by the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing on Tuesday morning. The act carried a potential sentence of between three and 10 years’ imprisonment.

Ji had pleaded not guilty during his trial hearing in September, arguing that he did not intentionally detonate the bomb in the airport’s Terminal 3 on July 20. The 33-year-old Shandong-native was injured heavily in the blast and has since been undergoing medical treatment.

Ji acted out of desperation, his defence lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan said in earlier statements. In 2005, he was beaten up by security guards in Dongguan so severely that he has since been confined to a wheelchair. Dongguan authorities continue to ignore his petitions for punishment of the attackers, his lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan wrote in a microblog post on Tuesday.

Hours after the explosion, the Dongguan petitions office issued a statement stating that in March 2010 police in the city had given 100,000 yuan (HK$125,000) to Ji, who promised to drop any claims. His family members said Ji had accepted the compensation. 

Ji has ten days to file a written appeal against the sentence. 

Video of the explosion at Beijing's airport. Warning: contains graphic images