Jailed China judge dies of "sudden death syndrome"
30 Apr 2007 13:18:57 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds comment from sister, paragraphs 7, 8) BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - A Chinese judge charged with corruption died in his cell from "adult sudden death syndrome", Xinhua news agency said on Monday. Investigators said Li Chaoyang, 38, had been uncooperative while in detention in Xing'an county in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southwestern China. "Cuts on his face and other injuries" had been caused by a fall during an escape attempt, they said. Li, a judge with the local Pingle County Court, was detained on March 23, accused of taking bribes. Shi Shaosen, head of the Guilin municipal law enforcement supervisory section and chief investigator in the case, said the prisoner had not been maltreated. "Li Chaoyang's sudden death conforms with adult sudden death syndrome," said Shi, citing a forensic report. Li's relatives had claimed there were wounds on his body, a gash across his lip and one of his front teeth was missing. They questioned the cause of his death and wrote about it on a blog. "We saw the remains of my brother at the funeral house of Xing'an County," said Li Xiuqing, the dead man's younger sister. "He was naked, and bruises could be clearly seen on his face, neck and back."My brother was just 38 years old, he had been in perfect health and hardly ever fell ill," said Li Xiuqing. "I suspect the visible bruises on his body were caused by torture." The investigation found that Li had been "mentally unstable", would not stop shouting and refused to return to his cell after exercise. Investigators said Li had attempted to escape many times and detention centre officials had had to shackle him. "The investigation proves Li Chaoyang's case was handled according to legal procedures and strictly according to the law," Shi was quoted as saying. "There were no reports that torture was used to extract a confession, or bodily harm caused by guards, or an assault by cell mates."
