Four get jail terms for attacking Chinese embassy

Source: Xinhua  |   2009-7-11  |     ONLINE EDITION

FOUR people who took part in the attacks on the Chinese embassy in The Hague on Monday were sentenced to one week in prison, Radio Netherlands reported Thursday.

They were among the first to appear before a court on Thursday after their arrest.

About 150 supporters of the so-called "East Turkistan" attacked the Chinese embassy in The Hague, causing damages to a building in the embassy compound. Several protestors also tried in vain to climb over the fence to break into the compound.

Police rounded up several dozens of protesters and brought them to police custody. About 40 of them remained detained by Thursday.

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen apologized to the Chinese charge d'affaires for the violence and promised to pay for the damage.

Monday's violent protest in The Hague followed riots on Sunday in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in which 156 people were killed and over 1,000 others injured.