Suspects with AIDS detained in separate facility

Nanjing has established a special detention center where criminal suspects with AIDS can be detained without risk of others contracting the disease.

In the past, such suspects were often released and not charged with crimes, according to the authorities, because there was nowhere safe to hold them while awaiting legal proceedings. Suspects were thought to pose less risk on their own after release.

The Nanjing detention center is located in a hospital for infectious diseases about 35 kilometers from the city's downtown district. In each 15-square-meter cell there are three beds, three cupboards, a television, eating utensils and a handful of other small items.