Six sentenced to jail for torturing to death a Chinese official suspected of corruption

Six Chinese officials have been sentenced to between four and 14 years behind bars over the death of a Communist Party official who had been detained on suspicion of corruption, foreign media reported, citing lawyers and the victim’s ex-wife.

Yu Qiyi, 42, a chief engineer for a state-owned company in the eastern city of Wenzhou, died on April 9 after his head was repeatedly dunked in a tub of ice cold water during his interrogation.

Party officials, not police, detained Yu for 38 days while they investigated allegations of corruption, possibly relating to a land deal. He was reportedly beaten and deprived of sleep during that time.

Five of the officials sentenced to jail worked for the Communist Party’s secretive corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The sixth official was from the local prosecutors office.

The sentences were handed down on Sept. 30, but were not reported by local media, the BBC said.

The six officials have appealed their sentences on the grounds they were obeying orders from their superiors.