Rio, October 6, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - On Friday (3), the Judiciary of Rio ordered preventive detention for seven prison guards and three inmates who are serving time in the Ary Franco penitentiary, all of them accused of torturing and killing Chinese businessman, Chan Kim Chang. The businessman was beaten, and his cranium fractured, when he refused to be photographed upon arrival at the prison.

Chang had been arrested in the Rio international airport, when he tried to embark for the United States carrying US$ 30 thousand that had not been declared to the Federal Revenue. According to his relatives, the money had been acquired through the sale of a pastry shop the family owned in São Paulo.

At first, it was suspected that Chang had been beaten to obtain the secret code for his bank card.

Military Police Major Luis Gustavo Matias da Silva, who was director of the penitentiary, was denounced by the Public Prosecution Service, but preventive detention was not requested in his case, since the only crime of which he is accused is omission.

Interrogation of the ten suspects has been set by the Judiciary for October 10. In his ruling, Judge Moacir Pessoa de Araújo considered detention of the suspects necessary, "not only as a guarantee of public order, but also as a matter of convenience for the preparation of the case for trial." In his view, "the crime of torture causes serious repulsion and unrest in society, particularly when attributed to those who have the duty and the function to watch over the security and keep from harm individuals who are under the custody and protection of police agents." (DAS)