The family of a judge who died in detention is not satisfied with an official investigation that claims he died from "adult sudden death syndrome" while being held in detention. Investigators say Li Chaoyang was an uncooperative prisoner while being held in detention in Xing'an county in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and cuts on his face and other injuries were caused by a fall during an escape attempt.

Li Chaoyang, a 38-year-old judge with the local Pingle County Court, was accused of taking bribes and detained by local prosecutors on March 23.

Shi Shaosen, head of the Guilin municipal law enforcement supervisory section and the chief investigator of the case, said the prisoner was not maltreated.

"Li Chaoyang's sudden death is a case of adult sudden death syndrome," said Shi, citing a forensic report at a news briefing held in Guilin on Sunday.

Shi would not take questions from reporters but said the investigation was conducted by law enforcement agencies from Guilin city and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The forensic report did not provide a pathological cause of Li's sudden death such as a heart attack or brain aneurysm.

Detention center officials say they found Li unconscious in his cell on the morning of April 2. He died later in hospital.

Li's relatives claimed there were wounds on his body, a gash across his lip and he was missing one of his front teeth. Sceptical about the official cause of his death, they wrote about it on a blog that was picked up by online service www.chinacourt.org but the posting was subsequently removed.

"We saw the remains of my brother at the Xing'an County funeral house," said Li Xiuqing, Li Chaoyang's younger sister. "He was naked, and bruises were clearly visible on his face, neck and back."

Pictures on the internet that purport to be Li, but do not show his face, reveal a body of a man that is battered and bruised with a gash across the upper lip.

"My brother was just 38 years old, he had been in perfect health and almost never fell ill," said Li Xiuqing. "I suspect the bruises on his body were caused by torture."

"The investigation proves Li Chaoyang's case was handled in strict accordance with the law," said Shi. "There are no reports that torture was used to extract a confession, or that he was beaten by guards, or assaulted by cell mates."

Li was charged with taking bribes on March 23 and was first held at the No.1 Detention House of Guilin. He was transferred to the detention center of Xing'an, a suburban county of Guilin City, three days later.

The joint investigation into Li's death claimed that Li was mentally unstable and shouted and refused to return to his cell after an exercise period.

Investigators say Li attempted to escape many times and detention center officials say they were forced to shackle him.

The investigative group was told that on March 28, Li again attempted to escape but tripped and fell, hitting his face on a metal bar, severely cutting his upper lip and knocking out one of his front teeth. He was taken to hospital for treatment and had a six-cm-long cut on his lip sutured, say investigators.

Investigators say they were told that Li refused further medical treatment in the days that followed.

The chief of the Xing'an County detention center, identified by his surname as Pan, recalled that guards assisted Judge Li Chaoyang while he was taking a bath on April 1. Pan said that Li was overexcited and incontinent.

"Li ate the leftovers of the previous evening's meal at 5 AM on April 2, and then suddenly fell unconscious while eating a full breakfast three hours later," said Pan. "Li was immediately sent to the local hospital for emergency treatment, but he died the same day."

Zhou said she did not believe the detention center's explanation.

"My husband was a man of discipline, he liked physical exercise, and he often climbed mountains with family members on weekends," said Zhou. "He was in excellent health. Before his death, he had only been hospitalized once when he suffered a bone fracture in a car accident."

Zhou said her husband, who stood 175 cm tall and weighed 73 kg, set off for work on the morning of March 22 wearing a cream-colored corduroy overcoat and dark beige casual trousers. The judge later rang his wife to say that he had been summoned by the county procuratorate to write a report and might not be able to return home that evening.

Zhou called her husband's cell phone that night but the cell phone was then cut off.

The forensic report compiled by the Guilin Medical Sciences College Hospital on Saturday ruled out violent beatings, suffocation, or poisoning as the cause of Li's death and concluded that Li had died of "adult sudden death syndrome" that might have been sparked by an unstable state of mind, and abnormal sleeping and eating habits.

Earlier the Guilin Municipal Procuratorate had mentioned suicide as a possible cause of Li's death.

A publicity official with Guilin Municipal Procuratorate said Li Chaoyang had many connections in Guilin City and his transfer to Xing'an was intended to avoid collusion or arrangements in his favor.

According to the official, five other judges from the same court where Li Chaoyang served are also under investigation.

"Li's death has brought unwelcome publicity to the case, but prosecutors have already found evidence of their taking bribes," said the official.

Relatives of the dead judge said they did not accept the conclusion drawn by the investigators.

"We will follow legal procedure and apply for an investigation by a higher judicial authority. We want to know why our beloved one died," they said.

Criminologist Chen Guangzhong said that -- in the interests of justice and neutrality -- the investigation should be carried out by higher procuratorial, judicial and security departments.

"There should be no interference from Guilin City in the autopsy, only independent and authoritative specialists should be used," said Chen, adding the first autopsy was very important for gathering evidence.

(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2007)