Mr. Zhang Yonglong Brutally Persecuted at Wuwei Prison, Gansu Province

Mr. Zhang Yonglong, a Falun Gong practitioner from Jinchang City, Gansu Province, was arrested by police officers Lu Lin and Li Xinhua from the Jinchuan District Police Department while he was at work on March 4th, 2002. He was held in the city detention centre and the Drug Rehabilitation Centre. In 2003, he was sentenced and taken to Lanzhou City Prison. He was later transferred to Wuwei Prison. He was brutally tortured while he was at the No. 4 Division of Wuwei Prison.

At the No. 4 Division, Mr. Zhang was forced to do heavy labour during the day and watch movies, video tapes and books that slandered Falun Gong at night. They also tried to force him to write the so-called Repentance Statement¹. When he refused to write the statement, he was handcuffed and hung from the ceiling for a whole morning. He was also shocked with electric batons. The guards tortured practitioners publicly without any concern. Oftentimes, people could smell burning flesh from the electric batons shocking people, even though they were far from the guards' office.

In 2005, Mr. Zhang Yonglong asked others to publicise the facts of how he was being tortured outside of the prison to others, but the guards discovered what he was trying to do. Political Instructor Liu Jibin from the No. 4 Division brutally beat and kicked Mr. Zhang. Liu Jibin also had criminal inmates handcuff Mr. Zhang's arms behind his back with one arm pulled down his back over his shoulder and the other arm pulled up behind his back. He was forced to stand on a bench and they tied a rope around the handcuffs and hung him up from the ceiling. After they secured him to the ceiling, they took away the bench and left him hanging there. They even gave the torture the name, "dancing bally." In this position, the victim sweats uncontrollably. Within minutes the floor is wet with the victim's sweat. The victim not only suffers great pain, but also is very thirsty due to the significant amount of sweating. The arms become dark, and the victim soon loses consciousness. Zhang Yonglong was hung like this from 8:00 a.m. to noon, and in the afternoon, he was hung up again. Nobody dared to say anything. Within months under such brutal torture, Zhang Yonglong's hair turned totally white at the age of 38.

Practitioners Qin Dexin and Ma Zhigang were also persecuted like this in the No. 4 Division.

On December 1st, 2005, Mr. Zhang Yonglong and 19 other practitioners were secretly transferred to Jiuquan Prison.

At Jiuquan Prison, Zhang Yonglong was forced to watch slanderous videos. There were "Public Criticism and Denunciation" meetings in the prison. They forced practitioners to stand in front of everybody and people stood up one by one and cursed the practitioners. Zhang Yonglong was brutally beaten by several inmates. A division head shocked him with electric batons and forced him to stand. He was not allowed to sleep or to mail anything to his family. His shoes were coming apart, but he was not allowed to change them. Zhang Yonglong's mother passed away. The guards withheld his family's message telling him about this.

During the five years that Zhang Yonglong was detained, both of his parents passed away. Both parents wanted to see their son for one last time, but they did not get their wish.

Note

1. Repentance Statement: In this statement the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/12/7/167918.html