HAIKOU, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Four police officers from a city in Hainan Province, were found guilty of either intentionally wounding a person or dereliction of duty after one of them shot a local farmer and the others tried to cover it up by blaming and mistreating the victim.

    One of the police officers was sent to prison for six years, while his superior officers were given suspended sentences ranging from 18 months to three years.

    The extraordinary case of a family's fight for justice has been winding its way through the provincial legal system for six years.

    The Haikou Intermediate People's Court was told that on July 24,2000, Xing Yagai, who is of the Li ethnic minority and a native of Xinningpo Village, Dongfang City, approached a police check point which was set up to examine vehicle registrations.

    As his motorbike was not properly registered and fearing it would be seized or he would be ordered to pay road fees, he stopped a dozen meters from the check point, turned around and fled.

    Officer Wen Ruiqiang ordered Xing to stop but Xing sped away. Wen then fired two shots, both of which hit Xing.

    In their report, Zhang Shenggui, the chief of Datian Police Substation and Li Guohe, the head of Dongfang City Public Security Bureau, justified the shooting by describing Xing as a fugitive criminal and suggested that Wen should receive a commendation. They also used their influence with the local media to spread falsehoods about Xing.

    While Xing was being treated for his wounds he was put under police surveillance and handcuffed to his hospital bed for eight days.

    Xing's father-in-law, Fu Guanghua, who was the village head, first complained about his son-in-law's mistreatment to Chen Wenji, the secretary of the disciplinary inspection committee of Dongfang City Public Security Bureau. Chen turned down Fu's request for redress and compensation.

    This only made Fu more determined and he took his complaint to successively higher authorities. He even reported the case to officials in Beijing.

    Finally, the People's Procuratorate of Dongfang City began to earnestly investigate the case. They determined that Wen Ruiqiang should be charged with intentional injury, and Li Guohe, Zhang Shenggui and Chen Wenji should be charged with dereliction of duty for ignoring and obstructing Xing's case.

    The Haikou intermediate People's Court recently sentenced Wen to six years in prison and ordered him to pay 5,680 yuan in compensation to Xing.

    Li Guohe, Zhang Shenggui and Chen Wenji were all convicted by the Qiongshan District Court of Haikou City and given suspended sentences ranging from three years to 18 months.

    Both Xing and his father-in-law say they are somewhat satisfied that justice has been served. They complain the cash compensation isn't enough as Xing can no longer do manual labour.