China's top judge and president of the Supreme People's Court Wang Shengjun stressed on Sunday to severely punish violent criminals so as to ensure the public's sense of security.

"Courts at all levels should severely punish those violent criminals that seriously jeopardize public security, especially those involved in gangsters or organized crimes and terrorism," said Wang on a court inspection tour in the southern province of Guangdong.

Those ought to receive death penalties in line with the law should be sentenced accordingly, and those with circumstances of lesser punishment should be given lenient sentence, Wang said.

He said courts should do their utmost to meet the justice demand of the masses and focus on grassroots work to ensure the public enjoy a real protection of the law.

"Courts should actively treat various demand of the public, promptly dissolve conflicts and properly handle various interest so as to safeguard social justice," he said.

According to a work report issued by the Supreme People's Court in March, the country's courts trialed 3.4 million criminal cases from 2003 to 2007, a 19.6 percent rise compared with that of the previous five years.

Among them, 1.2 million cases involved robbery, manslaughter, kidnapping and explosions.

Over 760,000 criminals, accounting for 18.2 percent of the total number, was sentenced to imprisonment above five years or life imprisonment, and death penalty.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2008)