I think it went beyond risk and into actual deaths. At least that's what I read. I guess they considered it murder, which I suppose would get the same penalty in any country with captial punishment.

>I find it unbelievably harsh as well and unimaginable. However, I wonder if it was due to the risk to human life due to his actions and not the fraud itself? It could have been considered terrorism by food... or was it someone else responsible for that?
>
>
>>Really harsh punishment, perhaps wake up call sent to
>>various 'structures' there to straighten up or at least be more carefull
>>with what they are doing.
>>
>>But I do wander if few people were publicly prosecuted and then actually sent for life in prison for corporate fraud back in say 1997-1998, how 'bubbly' would hv been stock exchange back in 2000-2001.
>>(BTW big SE scandal happened in Cyprus as well !)
>>
>>Death penalty is of course extreeme, but I do believe in heavy punishment for fraud;
>>
>>Some desperate kid steal your wallet with few hundred bucks in it, and gets
>>easily few years in prison. I don't see how wrong would be to give those
>>corporate bandits punishment according to amount stollen.
>>
>>You hv stollen 2.4 mills ?
>>All right; - dring,dring,dring,dring...equals to... minus all discounts...
>>that makes it grand total of 2375.5 years in prison.
>>Sorry, as 'bonus' you get all your properties expropriated.
>>
>>Bubbly,Jubbly huh ? :)