UK investigator Peter Humphrey accuses China of withholding medical treatment to get GSK confession

A British corporate investigator freed from a Chinese jail last week has accused officials of deliberately withholding medical treatment to try to force him to confess to a role in a scandal involving drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK).

Peter Humphrey and his American wife Yu Yingzeng returned to Britain on Wednesday night after being sentenced in August for illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens and selling the information to clients, including GSK.

"We arrive here with a heavy toll on our health," Humphrey said. "I have a prostate tumour and Ying has kidney disease."

Humphrey, who has disputed allegations of wrongdoing, said during his time in jail, prison officers deliberately obstructed his requests for the appropriate medical attention.

"Every week in captivity I raised requests for the next step in the medical process," he said. "I was always refused on the grounds that I had not signed an admission of crime.

"Neither I nor Ying have ever admitted any guilt as charged. My health was held hostage to signing such a confession."