Two guards in a Yunnan prison where a young detainee was believed to have been beaten to death by fellow inmates were detained by prosecutors on charges of dereliction of duty, Xinhua reported yesterday.
The detentions of Li Dongming and Su Shaolu followed a reversal by authorities on their finding last weekend in the suspicious death of Li Qiaoming.
Li's death in early February in a prison in Jinning was attributed to a brain injury sustained in a game of hide-and-seek while in custody.
But netizens did not accept that explanation and pressured authorities for a better one. The authorities in Yunnan invited bloggers and journalists to join the investigation. The new finding showed that Li had been beaten to death by prison bullies.
Three senior officials had already been removed from their posts for dereliction of duty in connection with the death, Xinhua quoted provincial Public Security Bureau spokeswoman Yang Jianping as saying at a press conference in Kunming on Saturday. They were Yan Guodong, vice-director of the Jinning police bureau; Yu Chengjiang, the prison warden; and Jiang Ying, the deputy warden.
An official in charge of Li's cellblock was also dismissed.