Beijing police missed opportunity in handling of death in custody case, say academics
Public distrust of law increases after police involved in death of young father Lei Yang are exempted from prosecution
Beijing police missed an opportunity to soothe public distrust and restore their image by their handling of an investigation into the suspicious death of a young man while in custody, academics say.
Last week, seven months after the death of a 29-year-old Lei Yang while in police custody, the case was closed with all of the police officers involved exempted from prosecution and a financial settlement between the family and police.
The handling of Lei Yang’s death sparked public outrage, particularly with many Chinese who identified with the well-educated young father who worked for the government.
The muzzling of social media comment on the death of Lei in May is likely to add fuel to the fire of public discontent as Chinese platforms lit up at the time with questions regarding police conduct as the cause of death. Searches of Lei’s name on the Weibo microblog now come up blank, with only a message saying “no display because of relevant laws and regulations”.
“The Lei Yang case has become a public incident that attracts the attention of all of society,” said Hu Xingdou, a political commentator and professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology. “This will definitely affect the public’s confidence in the rule of law, especially when hopes had been high.”