Shanghai experts to attend autopsy in Harbin

By Tom Qian  |   2008-10-24  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE autopsy on the body of a man killed in a street fight involving six police officers in Harbin is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and two experts from Shanghai have been invited to attend, Oriental Morning Post reported today.

Another four experts have been invited from Beijing – two from the Ministry of Public Security and two from the People’s Highest Procuratorate. One of the Shanghai experts is from the Institute of Forensic Science under the Ministry of Justice and the other represents the Expert Testimony Center of East China University’s Department of Political Science and Law, the report said.

Min Yinlong, director of the Expert Testimony Center, said he would arrive in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, tonight and the autopsy would be carried out about 2pm tomorrow.

The body of Lin Songling has been thawed and the family’s lawyer Hu Fengbin told the newspaper that Harbin police agreed to allow relatives and lawyers attend the autopsy. The family’s request to allow the media to attend has not been confirmed by police, according to the report.

Hu added that Lin’s relatives have insisted on recording the entire autopsy although it was unclear if this would be done.

According to an earlier report, Hu questioned a video tape of the street fight that was released by police at two press conferences. Hu said the video omitted two key sequences – one showing police pulling Lin out of a bar and a five minute segment with five to six police officers continuously kicking him.

After the tape was spread online, the public became more sympathetic towards police as Lin was seen hitting the head of a policeman with concrete blocks.

Lin and his friends argued with police on October 11, accusing policeman Li Xinyu of driving dangerously.

The quarrel developed into a fight that left Lin dead and several others on both sides badly injured.