Chongqing suspects allege torture by police

Alleged gang bosses have claimed they were tortured by police or detained in illegal jails in order to extract confessions.

The allegations were made as the second wave of gang trials kicked off on Tuesday at the Chongqing No 2 intermediate people's court.

Chen Zhiyi and Deng Yuping, who are alleged to have run a 22-member mafia-style gang, said in court that the gang was not an organized one and they were either extorted into confessing or imprisoned in illegal jails by police.

Along with four other people with suspected connections to the gang, they are charged with 22 crimes including leading or participating in a mafia-style gang, killing three people and running illegal gambling dens.

More than 200 people heard the trial in court, mainly family members of the accused. Another 100 people gathered outside the court gate to hear live broadcast of the case.

"I admitted to the crimes after police from Fengjie county tortured me," said 43-year-old Chen in court yesterday morning.

APO SIX:A Brutal Legacy of Police Impunity

Civil rights groups, led by Access to Justice, today in Abuja marked the 4th anniversary of the pre-mediated killing of 6 Nigerian youths by officers of the Nigeria Police Force in what has come to be known as the “Apo Six”.The groups also used the occasion to highlight the desperate attempt by the Police Force to hide the truth of the dastardly murder of the youth who were in their prime. Gory details of the findings by the Federal Government Commission of inquiry, headed by Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, led to the prosecution of the officers involved in the extra judicial murder. Four years later, however, the police personnel identified by the Commission as having been directly involved in the murder of the youths are still undergoing a shame of a prosecution, while the former Garki Police Station Divisional Police Officer at that time, Mr. Othman Abdulsalam, escaped from police custody and is unaccounted for. Another suspect, DSP Danjuma, remains in service and continues to draw a salary. He even has a detachment of Police officers guarding his residence at the Wuse II District of Abuja.