RETAIL magnate Tang Wee Sung was sentenced to one day in jail and a fine of $17,000 for illegal organ trading and lying to the Commissioner of Oaths.

According to mypaper, Tang Wee Sung was calm on hearing the verdict, and was led by the bailiff to Queenstown Remand Prison where he stayed for about two hours. He was released at 5.40pm yesterday, when he informed reporters that "he was fine".

Tang, 56, pleaded guilty to organ-trading last week. District Judge Ng Peng Hong said yesterday that middlemen who profit from organ trading would face harsher penalties than organ buyers and sellers. The sentence also took into consideration Tang's extreme ill health - a long sentence could worsen his medical condition.

NKF chairman Gerard Ee told Lianhe Zaobao that the sentence was fair. He said that the jail term signalled that organ-trading would not be condoned, but was not overly harsh.

This article was first published in Chinese in mypaper on Sep 4, 2008.

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