Ten criminals were tried at a local sports stadium, sentenced to death and immediately taken away and executed in South China's Guangdong Province on Saturday.
Twelve people stood trial in the open-air court in front of thousands of spectators by two courts - the Shanwei Intermediate People's Court and Lufeng People's Court in Guangdong Province, The Beijing News reported on Saturday.
The 12 suspects who were charged with drug dealing and murder had their trials heard at a local sports stadium in the city of Lufeng, which has a reputation of being China's major drug workshop.
Video clips posted by The Beijing News on its official Weibo account showed each accused being paraded into the stadium in Donghai Township in Lufeng in the back of a modified police pickup truck, surrounded by four armed police officers.
The stadium was filled with thousands of local residents who came to watch the open trial. One by one the suspects stood handcuffed on a prisoner's dais on the running track. The ten who were sentenced to death were taken away and immediately executed, according to The Beijing News.
Guangdong is China's largest producer of methamphetamine. Xinhua News Agency reported that more than a third of the methamphetamine consumed in China was made in villages around Lufeng.
Several such open trials have been held in Lufeng in recent years. In June 2015, 13 suspects were sentenced to death for drug trafficking in a public trial that was watched by more 10,000 local residents in Lufeng. Xinhua reported that local authorities hope the public sentencing will showcase the government's hard line on drugs.
