A psychiatrist suspected of corruption became sick in a temporary police detention center and died after his release, a spokesman for the Russian Sverdlovsk regional investigations department said on Tuesday.
Yevgeny Leonov was arrested on January 12 and the next day was transferred to a temporary police detention center in Yekaterinburg, according to the regional Prosecutor General's Office. He was released on January 14.
Last week, the local press published reports that police may have used violence against the doctor. Police are investigating the allegations.
"According to preliminary information, he had Mallory-Weiss syndrome," the spokesman said.
Mallory-Weiss syndrome is internal bleeding from a tear in tissues between the esophagus and stomach usually triggered by severe vomiting or coughing.
Sverdlovsk Region Health Minister Alexander Belyavsky said he believed the doctor showed signs of the syndrome and his death was not caused by physical force. He added that medical examiners would determine exact cause of the doctor's death.
The Russian press often publishes incidents of possible beatings in temporary detention centers and detoxification cells. Last year a Russian journalist, Konstantin Popov, died after being severely beaten by a police officer in the Siberian city of Tomsk. The officer, Alexei Mitayev, was arrested and charged with assault and abuse of office.
YEKATERINBURG, January 18 (RIA Novosti)
