Staff from controversial internet addiction treatment centre jailed for detaining students illegally
- Director general and principal among four staff sentenced over holding young people in guarded rooms for days at a time
- Court rejects former students’ request for public apology and compensation but all parties are considering whether to appeal
A court in eastern China has sentenced four teachers and school administrators from a controversial detox centre to prison terms ranging from 11 months to more than two years for illegally detaining students who enrolled to kick the habit of internet addiction, court documents said.
The Yuzhang Shuyuan Institute in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, was founded in 2013 and advertised that it used Confucian philosophy, classic Chinese literature and calligraphy to “transform” students who were addicted to internet and gaming.
In November, five members of the institute were arrested and they were indicted two months later. In June, three former students filed civil lawsuits against the school, demanding a public apology and financial compensation.
On Tuesday, the Qingshanhu District People’s Court in Nanchang handed down verdicts on the teachers as well as the students’ petition.
“From 2013 to 2017, the institute’s director general Wu Junbao and principal Ren Weiqiang set up rooms and put students in forced incarceration, and that constituted illegal detention,” said a document issued by the court.