Policing the police

Zhao Zuohai's recent statement to the media confirms our worst suspicions - that torture did have a role to play in his confession, albeit for a murder that never took place.

We cannot be certain yet whether Zhao is guilty of exaggeration or not, but his story is chilling.

For weeks before he was formally sentenced, Zhao says he was repeatedly tortured to extract a confession - that he had killed a fellow villager, who subsequently fled fearing Zhao would die of injuries he had caused during an altercation.