Kidnap suspect fails to enter plea in court

The man charged with kidnapping visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying only said he understood his rights in his first court appearance in Urbana, Illinois on Monday, with the student's family demanding the death penalty.

Brendt Christensen is expected to return to court on Wednesday, when the court will decide whether to grant him bail, China Central Television (CCTV) reported Tuesday.

Christensen barely said anything and did not enter a plea during his nine-minute appearance at the courthouse in Urbana, NBC News reported.

Zhang's family attended the hearing and met with prosecutors, inspectors and members of the federal court, where Zhang's family suggested that prosecutors pursue the death penalty against Christensen, CCTV reported.

"This is the first time Zhang's family saw the suspect, so their anger and pain was self-evident," Wang Zhidong, a lawyer who provides legal assistance to Zhang's family, told CCTV, adding that during the short meeting prosecutors said they would take the suggestion of Zhang's family into consideration.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a daily press conference on Tuesday that the ministry and China's Embassy in the US will follow developments and stay in close contact with the US, urging the US side to bring the murderer to justice.

Christensen was questioned twice before he was arrested, but his second testimony was different from the first, CCTV reported on Monday.

On June 29, agents overheard Christensen, who was under law enforcement surveillance, saying that he kidnapped Zhang, which led to his arrest.