A postmortem was carried out on Saturday on the person allegedly beaten to death by six policemen in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, on Oct 11.

The final autopsy result will be announced in a month , one of nine forensic experts who performed the postmortem said.

Lu Hongxi, vice-director of Harbin public security bureau, said that based only on the preliminary autopsy, it is difficult to determine the cause of Lin Songling's death. More tests are needed for that.

The family of Lin, a graduate of Harbin institute of physical education, has demanded that autopsy and other medical reports be sent to the justice department in Shanghai for further examination, Lu said. So the final report would take another 20 to 30 days.

Six plainclothes policemen allegedly had an argument with Lin, 22, and three of his friends in a parking lot near a nightclub in Harbin on Oct 11, Xinhua said. In the fight that reportedly followed Lin died on the spot.

Min Yinlong, a medical professor in Shanghai-based East China University of Political Science and Law, said the autopsy focused on Lin's main organs, whose failure might have caused the death, and his body fluid.

Nine experts from five departments such as the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, Heilongjiang public security bureau and the expert testimony center of East China University of Political Science and Law comprised the autopsy team.

The nine will be responsible for the final report of the autopsy, the Harbin public security bureau said.

A test to determine whether Lin died of drug abuse was also conducted after many Internet reports said the victim was a suspected drug addict, said Hu Fengbin, a lawyer invited by Lin's family from Beijing.

Two of Lin's family members, the lawyer, several officials of the Harbin police and notary office witnessed the entire autopsy process.

The bureau, however, refused the family's request to video-record the autopsy on its own camera. The surveillance video would do that, it said.

Lu had earlier said that the media could watch the autopsy if it was necessary. So the family had invited the media.

But police rejected the idea at the last minute, and journalists and cameramen had to wait outside the autopsy room.

Police had hoped to complete the autopsy after Lin's death, but his family insisted on having its own experts "to take part to ensure justice was done".

(China Daily October 27, 2008)