When the public security department persecutes normal people by putting them in a mental institute it completely violates the law and justice

Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy

A Hong Kong-based human rights group says said Su Gang was placed in the hospital by police, although he had no mental problems.

The death of computer engineer Mr Su follows a crackdown in China against Falun Gong, which was banned a year ago as a dangerous cult.

The Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy says 22 Falun Gong supporters have died in Chinese custody.

The centre said: "China has laws, if Su Gang broke the law then the public security department should prosecute, but when the public security department persecutes normal people by putting them in a mental institute it completely violates the law and justice."

Falun Gong

Chinese mystic belief based on teachings of exiled master Li Hongzhi Advocates Confucian and Buddhist moral values and group breathing and meditation exercises

Mr Su, 32, from Zibo in eastern Shandong province, was arrested after campaigning in Beijing this year on behalf of the movement.

Police took him to Changle Mental Hospital in eastern China on 23 May and he was given daily shots of a drug that attacks the central nervous system, the centre said.

Beating suspicions

Mr Su was released on 31 May after his family staged a protest hunger strike, but after his release he suffered from memory and appetite loss and had difficulty moving. He died 10 days later.

The centre also said that another Falun Gong follower, Wang Xiuying, died on 22 May in a Beijing hospital after police forced her to drink salt water to end a hunger strike.

And another follower, Tian Shiqiang, died suddenly in Beijing police custody and his body was promptly cremated, raising suspicions he had been beaten to death, the centre said.

China has acknowledged several deaths among Falun Gong followers while in police custody, but said they were caused by suicide or natural causes.

The Chinese Government has called the group an "evil cult" and the biggest threat to one party communist rule since the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests.