Members of a criminal gang suspected of supplying gay male prostitutes are expected to go to trial in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, this week.

The Qinhuai District People's Court may hear the case in public this Friday," said Jiang Huaqiang, director of the research office of the court, yesterday.

Gang leader Li Ning was charged with hiring prostitutes out of his bar since early 2003.

Li opened his first two bars, Golden Kylin and Langqian, in December 1999 out of two houses he rented.

He was forced to close them when the houses were torn down to make room for new buildings.

He opened another bar, Zhengqi, in July 2003.

According to the Qinhuai District People's Procuratorate, Li first hired gay prostitutes to work in the bars on the first day of 2003.

Two of his "managers," known only by the surnames Liu and Leng, were said to be mainly responsible for the employment and management of the gay prostitutes.

Police busted the group and closed the Zhengqi Bar on August 17, 2003.

Li was arrested in October but the other two are still at large.

Li reportedly confessed that they first posted up employment advertisements looking for high salary public relations personnel to attract young males.

It has been said that Liu was once a procurer as well as a gay prostitute in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province.

When Li hired him in early 2003, he allegedly set up a management system to administer the gay prostitutes.

Gay prostitutes working there were reportedly required to hand in a deposit of 300 yuan (US$ 36) and then 200 yuan (US$ 24) every month in the name of administration costs.

For every 200 yuan (US$24) earned, the prostitutes had to hand in 50 yuan (US$6).

If the payment was between 200 (US$24) and 300 yuan (US$36), they had to hand in 80 yuan (US$ 10). For every client that paid more than 300 yuan (US$36), the payoff was 100 yuan (US$12).

"These gay prostitutes drink, eat and talk with the customers, and provide different kinds of sexual services," Li was quoted as saying in the Nanjing-based daily newspaper Modern Express.

To boost the number of "public relations" employees, Li allegedly set up the Yaoshen Public Relations Corporation last May.

He reportedly earned more than 100,000 yuan (US$12,048) in just a few months.

In July 2003, Liu disappeared and Li asked Leng to take over the operation.

Most of the men hired, however, were forced to work as prostitutes, the newspaper reported.

"I worked there only because the boss threatened not to return my ID card and deposit," Zhang Jun, a 20-year-old man said.

Organizing, forcing, seducing, harboring or introducing prostitution became a crime in 1997.

According to the law, those who commit such crimes face fines and up to five years in jail.

In serious cases, sentences can be longer.

Many lawyers are paying great attention to this particular case.

"There were similar cases in Shanghai, that ended in different results," said Yu Weining, of Nanjing's Tianzhe Law Office.

"Some people did not think of it as a crime," Yu said.

"In my opinion, prostitution is a crime, no matter if it is between women prostitutes and men or between gay people," he said.

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