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Thursday 26 February 2009
Outcry over delay in report on jail death
Yunnan authorities have delayed their promised release of the results of an investigation into the death in custody of a young man supposedly playing “hide-and-seek”, prompting another online outcry over official handling of the case.
Yunnan authorities have delayed their promised release of the results of an investigation into the death in custody of a young man supposedly playing “hide-and-seek”, prompting another online outcry over official handling of the case.
In a chat room on the popular 163.com website, a netizen claiming to be from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, was typical of the respondents, telling authorities not to “fool people” over the investigation.
“Don’t play hide-and-seek with the public.
“You will pay a higher price if suppressed anger builds up and explodes one day in a stronger way,” the contributor said.
Li Qiaoming, a 24-year-old resident of Yuxi, Yunnan province, was taken into custody at the Jinning county detention house for illegal tree-felling on January 29 but died of head injuries on February 12 in hospital.
Jinning police said the following day that Li had died of head injuries sustained while hitting a wall during a game of hide-and-seek with his cellmates, and was sent to hospital on February 8.
In one account of the incident, police said Li was beaten up by a cellmate during the game.
Following a public outcry, a group of netizens was invited to conduct an independent probe but failed to present a conclusion, saying only that they had no evidence to challenge the police conclusion.
To head off further discontent, deputy provincial propaganda chief Wu Hao promised to file and release the results of the police investigation by yesterday.
“Judicial departments are investigating by working diligently and will present an official judicial conclusion on Tuesday,” Mr. Wu, the initiator of the netizen investigation trip, was quoted by The Beijing News as saying on Monday.
But the Yunnan propaganda department and the Yunnan Procuratorate confirmed yesterday that the results could not be released publicly.
An officer from the Kunming Public Security Bureau press office also said yesterday that it had stopped taking requests for information and that “any media interview should go through the propaganda department of the Ministry of Public Security”.
“We never said we would present an investigation report today,” the police officer said.
Li’s “hide-and-seek” death is the latest in a litany of alarming cases of death and abuse of suspects in detention houses which have eroded public confidence in the custody system.
In late December, a 17-year-old youth died in a detention house in Luoyang, Henan province.
The body was badly bruised, according to the Dahe Daily.
Li’s death in custody became a hotly debated issue in the media and on the internet and resulted in Yunnan propaganda authorities organising an “independent investigation trip” for eight netizens last Friday.
The netizens filed an inconclusive report on Saturday after prosecutors and police rejected requests for further evidence.
Legal professionals also publicly challenged the netizens’ investigation, saying it was a show designed by propaganda authorities and had amounted to interference in the legal process.
There are also claims online and in media reports that most of the trip’s so-called netizen participants were state media staff allied with Yunnan propaganda officials.
1 comment:
Outcry over delay in report on jail death
Vivian Wu
25 February 2009
Yunnan authorities have delayed their promised release of the results of an investigation into the death in custody of a young man supposedly playing “hide-and-seek”, prompting another online outcry over official handling of the case.
In a chat room on the popular 163.com website, a netizen claiming to be from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, was typical of the respondents, telling authorities not to “fool people” over the investigation.
“Don’t play hide-and-seek with the public.
“You will pay a higher price if suppressed anger builds up and explodes one day in a stronger way,” the contributor said.
Li Qiaoming, a 24-year-old resident of Yuxi, Yunnan province, was taken into custody at the Jinning county detention house for illegal tree-felling on January 29 but died of head injuries on February 12 in hospital.
Jinning police said the following day that Li had died of head injuries sustained while hitting a wall during a game of hide-and-seek with his cellmates, and was sent to hospital on February 8.
In one account of the incident, police said Li was beaten up by a cellmate during the game.
Following a public outcry, a group of netizens was invited to conduct an independent probe but failed to present a conclusion, saying only that they had no evidence to challenge the police conclusion.
To head off further discontent, deputy provincial propaganda chief Wu Hao promised to file and release the results of the police investigation by yesterday.
“Judicial departments are investigating by working diligently and will present an official judicial conclusion on Tuesday,” Mr. Wu, the initiator of the netizen investigation trip, was quoted by The Beijing News as saying on Monday.
But the Yunnan propaganda department and the Yunnan Procuratorate confirmed yesterday that the results could not be released publicly.
An officer from the Kunming Public Security Bureau press office also said yesterday that it had stopped taking requests for information and that “any media interview should go through the propaganda department of the Ministry of Public Security”.
“We never said we would present an investigation report today,” the police officer said.
Li’s “hide-and-seek” death is the latest in a litany of alarming cases of death and abuse of suspects in detention houses which have eroded public confidence in the custody system.
In late December, a 17-year-old youth died in a detention house in Luoyang, Henan province.
The body was badly bruised, according to the Dahe Daily.
Li’s death in custody became a hotly debated issue in the media and on the internet and resulted in Yunnan propaganda authorities organising an “independent investigation trip” for eight netizens last Friday.
The netizens filed an inconclusive report on Saturday after prosecutors and police rejected requests for further evidence.
Legal professionals also publicly challenged the netizens’ investigation, saying it was a show designed by propaganda authorities and had amounted to interference in the legal process.
There are also claims online and in media reports that most of the trip’s so-called netizen participants were state media staff allied with Yunnan propaganda officials.
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