Guangzhou Lawyer Mr. Zhu Yubiao Sent to Brainwashing Centre After Two Years in Prison

Name: Zhu Yubiao
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Attorney
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 18th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Beijiang Prison
City: Shaoguan
Province: Guangdong
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, brainwashing

On August 18th, 2010, Guangzhou Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhu Yubiao was arrested at his home. He was sentenced to two years in prison and sent to the Beijiang Prison in Shaoguan. On August 17th, 2012, after serving two years in prison, Mr. Zhu should have been released, but instead the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) sent him to the Sanshui Brainwashing Centre.

Mr. Zhu Yubiao received his master's degree from Zhongshan University. He is a lawyer of strong moral character, and often defends disadvantaged people either for very little money or for free. He has received coverage in the local media for his kind acts.

From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Zhu successively defended three Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested and tried. During one of the trials, the prosecutor was at a loss and said, “If you feel the practice is good, then do it at home and don't come out.” They knew that Mr. Zhu's defence was based on the law and the facts.

Mr. Zhu was due to be released on August 17th. Before that day, Mr. Zhu's mother wrote to Beijiang Prison Director Xiao that they would come to the prison to pick up their son. On August 15th, Mr. Zhu's father called Xiao to tell him that he and his attorney were coming to the prison to pick up his son. Xiao told him that there was no need to come to the prison. He would leave the prison after he had completed the procedures. On August 17th, Mr. Zhu's father asked a police officer as to the time they would need to complete the procedures. The officer said that they didn't need to do anything except to sign some documents. The officer also said that the earliest time was 8 a.m. All indications were that Mr. Zhu was still being held in the Beijiang Prison.

At about 4 p.m. on August 15th, five people - the Director of the Xingang 610 Office, Director of Community Committees of Zhongshan University, City Management Zhao Shigang, Song from a judiciary agency, and a retiree from Zhongshan University, came to Mr. Zhu's father's home. They told Mr. Zhu's father that they had received notice from Haizhu District the day before and that he did not need to go pick up his son, as he was being sent to the Sanshui City Legal System School (a brainwashing centre) first and that they would notify him in a few days. The family was shocked. Mr. Zhu's mother asked them to make it clear whose notice it was, but they didn't want to say.

During the past two years, Mr. Zhu's ageing parents have been worried about their only son day and night, and have been looking forward to his returning home. They have been waiting for this day, but did not anticipate that their son would be imprisoned again. One can imagine their suffering.

Mr. Zhu's father is a retired physics professor of Zhongshan University and had been presiding over a United Nations research project for the university. He didn't believe that a judicial body would not follow the law and still held a glimmer of hope, so he decided to go to pick up his son. The 76-year-old father and his lawyer travelled more than 280 kilometres to Shaoguang. On August 17th, they arrived at the Beijiang Prison before 8 a.m.

They proceeded to a building where a policewoman helped him enter the information into the computer. She told them to wait there and Mr. Zhu would come out from the iron gate later. After waiting for more than twenty minutes, Mr. Zhu's father inquired to the policewoman about the situation. She made a call and told them to wait. Another twenty minutes passed and he again asked the policewoman. She told him that it might take more time for them to check the file. She then made a call to urge them to hurry. Another twenty minutes had gone by, so Mr. Zhu's father again asked the policewoman. She made another call. Mr. Zhu's father then saw the policewoman's smiling face suddenly harden, and she seemed to be rebuked from the call. She put down the phone and told Mr. Zhu's father that Mr. Zhu had been picked up already. He asked her when this happened, who had picked him up, and where they had gone. The policewoman told him that he had to ask the officers of the prison supervisor section in the building across the street.

Mr. Zhu's father and the lawyer went across the street and saw prison director Xiao with two police officers. Mr. Zhu's father asked Xiao for his son. Xiao said: “I can only hand over your son to the local government, not you.”

The attorney questioned him on why things were handled this way and what law stipulated that family members were not allowed to pick him up. Xiao told them that he was just following the internal regulations. When Mr. Zhu's father asked to see the signed release document, Xiao said: “Why should I let you see it? It is our internal affair.”

Seeing the indignant father and his attorney leaving the prison, Xiao told two security personnel to take off their uniforms and follow them.