© Kim Kyung-Hoon/ReutersJia's death is the second case in two weeks of an official dying while being held in Communist party’s secret detention system.
A senior official at a city court in central China has died under mysterious circumstances, his body bruised after 11 days in the custody of anti-corruption investigators of the ruling Communist party, according to his family.
The case of Jia Jiuxiang, who was vice-president of the Sanmenxia City intermediate people's court in Henan province, is the second in two weeks to surface of an official dying while being held in the party's secret detention system, which is not regulated by law.
Jia's relatives say they suspect he was tortured in detention. His brother-in-law, Zhou Qiang, said Jia was detained on 12 April by the local party's discipline inspection committee, turned up in a local hospital on Monday night and died on Tuesday morning after attempts to save him failed.
Jia's wife, who was allowed to see the body, said his face had turned blue and his body was covered in bruises, Zhou said.
"We think that in handling the case, the discipline inspection committee used cruel tactics against him," Zhou said. He said that Jia, 49, had previously been in good health.
Another relative, Ma Weihua, who identified himself as Jia's nephew, confirmed details of Zhou's account and said local officials told the relatives they would conduct an investigation into Jia's death.
A man at the party's Sanmenxia politics and law committee with the surname of Song said officials at the committee were aware of the case but he had no further details.
Ma said he had heard Jia was taken in by anti-corruption investigators because he had been implicated by another court official who was being investigated. The court could not be reached for comment.
Earlier this month, a senior engineer at a government investment company in the eastern city of Wenzhou died after 38 days in the custody of anti-corruption officials. The official, Yu Qiyi, has become a rallying point for reformers who want to do away with the party's secret detention system that is prone to abuse but is depended on by Chinese leaders to keep members in line.
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