Judge dies of 'adult sudden death syndrome'

* From correspondents in Beijing
* April 30, 2007

A CHINESE judge charged with corruption died in his cell from "adult sudden death syndrome", Xinhua news agency said today.

Investigators said Li Chaoyang, 38, had been unco-operative while in detention in Xing'an county in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 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 Mr 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.

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," Mr 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."