Police action was improper in liquor case

A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL IN GUANGZHOU, Guangdong province, who was detained by police from Liangcheng county in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region because he had accused a local liquor of being toxic rather than having medicinal benefits as its manufacturer claimed, has now been released. Guangming Daily comments:

Although the anaesthetist was released on parole on Tuesday due to insufficient evidence, the case still calls into question how to protect people from abuses of public power and how to protect people's freedom of speech.

Were it not for the top judicial authorities' involvement because of the public's attention on the case, the man would have still been under custody.

There have been a number of cross-regional police actions against people who have aired "improper points of view" online. And so far, the police have not proved their actions are justified in any of the cases, which have mostly been halted by higher-level procuratorates due to the lack of evidence.

Still, that did not prevent the Liangcheng police from traveling to Guangzhou with the same intention. It calls for a reform of the structure of the public security organization nationwide, which has remained split at the county level despite regional integration becoming a national development strategy.

The police should also be more prudent in applying clauses of the Criminal Law when investigating cases related to civic rights.