Society

Latest detention death sparks questions

By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-19 11:16

The death of an inmate at a detention house in Taixing, Jiangsu province, has again triggered speculation about possible abuses of police power and chaotic management inside such centers.

Li Liancheng, a 52-year-old van driver from Jinan, Shandong province, died in No 1 people's hospital in Taixing on Dec 14. His family and the media were told he died from a primary intracerebral hemorrhage.

Police told local media earlier they had nothing to do with Li's death, but his family is unconvinced. Relatives say he was healthy before police took him away on Nov 4 for alleged involvement in the sale of illegal cigarettes as part of an operation worth 20 million yuan ($2.94 million).

Police said they were surprised about Li's death as well but insisted it was not the result of violence or torture during interrogation.

Officers said they interrogated Li three times after he arrived at the detention house in Taixing on Nov 11.

They said he had a good attitude and willingly confessed.

Police also said there was no possibility he was abused by another inmate, Jinan-based Qilu Evening News reported on Friday.

A video clip that Jiangsu TV broadcast courtesy of the police showed Li waking up at 3:39 am on Dec 3 and vomiting while other inmates slept.

Two fully dressed, unidentified men patted his back and helped him get dressed.

Officers on duty were informed around 4 am and a doctor was called. An ambulance arrived about an hour later, said police.

But Li's wife, Li Caiyun, and brother, Li Liangui, believe something else happened.

"At 3 am, all inmates should be asleep. Why were there two fully dressed men? It shows my brother could have become sick before 3 am. The police did not provide a full version of the video to show what really happened," Li Liangui told China Daily on Friday.

Li Caiyun said she saw bruises on her husband's left arm and a bump on the back of his head.

"The bump was there before my brother was sent into the operation room for surgery," said Li Liangui. "But a few days later when we were allowed to move his head, the bump and hair on it were gone."

The family also wonder why Li Liancheng lost about 25 kg in weight in just 20 days.

"He was about 75 kg (when he was taken away by police). But when my sister-in-law saw him (after being informed by police on Dec 3), his legs were too thin to believe," Li Liangui said.

Li Liangui is staying in Taixing and waiting for a more detailed explanation from police and the chance to see a full version of the monitoring video.

Calls to Taixing's police station were not answered on Friday.

A string of high-profile deaths at detention houses across China have raised doubts about the system.

In February, 24-year-old Li Qiaoming was beaten to death by inmates at a detention house in Yunnan province. Authorities initially blamed his death on an accident during a game of hide and seek.

On March 8, Xu Gengrong, a 19-year-old student, died during the seventh day of his detention in Shaanxi province where he was held on suspicion of stoning a schoolmate to death.

Qi Changjiang, a 30-year-old detainee at a detention house in Beijing's Haidian district, died in hospital on Sept 17. The diagnosis read: "Heartbeat suddenly stopped. Forty-nine days without eating caused death."

Many lawyers and experts have been calling for the protection of the legal and human rights of detainees.