Illegal Detention and Imprisonment

  • Lawyers Plead Not Guilty on Behalf of Seven Falun Gong Practitioners in Yingkou City, Liaoning Province

    Bayuquan District Court in Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, brought seven Falun Gong practitioners to trial on March 23rd, 2010. Their lawyers pleaded not guilty on their behalf. Over the next several days the families asked the court to release their detained relatives. The judges said that, although the lawyers had entered a plea of not guilty for each practitioner, the courts had to do things their way and had to press charges. They also said that they had no intention of releasing any Falun Gong practitioners.
  • Practitioner Ms. Sun Li Arrested; Her Family Detained When Looking for Her

    Local police arrested Ms. Sun Li from a hotel room. The arrest took place while she was running errands in the Nancha District, Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province. Her family went to look for her but was detained and had funds extorted from them. During the arrest several police officers dragged her downstairs to a waiting police car. She shouted, "Falun Gong is good" and she began explaining Falun Gong and exposing the Communist Party's crimes to the passersby. Ms. Sun held onto the car door, and they shoved her to the ground. Officer Zhao Yuanxin knelt on her chest and almost suffocated her. Another officer arrived, and the two carried her into the car. They kept kneeling on her chest so she could not move.
  • Ms. Zheng Zhixian and Daughter Arrested

    Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zheng Zhixian is in her sixties. On March 26th, 2010, she was arrested by police officers while she put up banners to inform the public about the persecution of Falun Gong. Previously in May 2009, Ms. Zheng Zhixian and her husband were at a market stand when police arrested and carried her to the car, then took her to a brainwashing centre, where she was detained for 53 days. The head of the brainwashing centre extorted 1,000 yuan from her family, claiming expenses for her meals, then released her. After she returned home, Ms. Zheng was extremely weak. Her body trembled while walking since she had no strength. One of her hands is paralysed, so she cannot look after herself.
  • Arrest of a Practitioner Repentant for His Behaviour Prior to Cultivating

    Mr. Bai Jingzhi was very well known in the Hongshi Forestry Bureau of Huadian City, Jilin Province. He was known as a scoundrel in his area. His return to being a better person was filled with hardship and sadness. There is a Chinese saying, "A repentant libertine is more precious than gold." However, the government under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has arrested him for his newfound beliefs. On January 11th, 2010, Mr. Bai and other practitioners went to Erdaodianzi Town of Huadian City to distribute Falun Gong information and were arrested. Mr. Bai was taken to the Huadian City Detention Centre.
  • Ou Weizhi and Zou Jixiu Tried in Nongken Court in Mudanjiang

    Ms. Ou Weizhi and Ms. Zou Jixiu were arrested and put on trial on March 22nd, 2010, because they practise Falun Gong. Friends of Ms. Ou Weizhi found her an attorney in Beijing, and Ms. Zou Jixiu's family found her one too. Personnel from the procuratorial department lied in court. The judges tried to hinder the attorneys from speaking with the excuse that the government had already determined the nature of Falun Gong, but the attorneys protested.
  • Ms. Tang Xuzhen, a Retired Associate Professor from Luzhou Medical Institute, Secretly Sentenced

    73-year-old Ms. Tang Xuzhen, a Falun Gong practitioner from Sichuan Province who is a retired associate professor from the Luzhou Medical Institute, was sentenced to three and a half years of imprisonment after being detained for eight months at Naxi Detention Centre in Luzhou City. She was sent to Jianyang Prison on February 8th, 2010.
  • Practitioner Wang Yongbin from Shanghai City Detained; Previously Sentenced to Forced Labour Twice

    Mr. Wang Yongbin, 53 years old, is a farmer from Situan Village, Fengxian District in Shanghai City. He started practising Falun Gong in 1998. On the morning of March 24th, officials from the Shanghai City Fengxian District 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and policemen from Pingan Police Department broke into his home and ransacked it. They arrested Wang Yongbin and detained him at Fengxian District Detention Centre. After the persecution against Falun Gong started on July 20th, 1999, Wang Yongbin was arrested by police in 2000. He was sentenced to two years in a forced labour camp and endured inhumane torture. He was finally released in 2002.
  • Lawyer Defends Mr. Chen Jizhong and His Sister, Ms. Chen Jihuan

    Mr. Chen Jizhong, 69, and his younger sister, Ms. Chen Jihuan, 56, both live in Heilongjiang Province. After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Chen was arrested five times and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in Lianjiangkou Prison in Jiamusi City. On November 29th, 2009, Mr. Chen and his sister were arrested again. They were still detained in the Yilan County Detention Centre. On March 24th, 2010, Mr. Chen and Ms. Chen were brought to trial in the Yilan County Court. An attorney defended them despite much interference. The prosecutor had nothing to argue with.
  • Ms. Tong Yaqin Taken to a Detention Centre for Requesting the Release of Another Practitioner in Heilongjiang Province

    On March 17th, 2010, police broke into the home of practitioner Ms. Ma Chunli without a search warrant. They confiscated a computer, Falun Gong books, and informational material about Falun Gong. They took Ms. Ma to Jiadong Police Station. On March 18th, Ms. Tong Yaqin, also a Falun Gong practitioner, along with Ms. Ma's kindhearted neighbour and another sympathetic lady, visited Jiadong Police Station to request the release of Ma Chunli. Ms. Tong argued reasonably but infuriated the police chief, Feng Kaidong. As a result, he detained Ms. Tong and took her to Jiamusi Detention Centre.
  • Mr. Mei Chuanjun Taken to Brainwashing Centre from Computer Science Institute, Hubei University of Technology

    On March 15th, 2010, several officers led by Huang Shuiqing and Hu Jun of the Hubei University of Technology's Security Division broke into Mr. Mei Chuanjun's office in the university's Computer Science Institute. They forcibly took Mr. Mei, who had received an award of Young Teacher of Excellence, to the former Tangxunhu Brainwashing Centre (also known as the Banqiao Legal Education Centre) in Hubei Province. They did so without cause and without following any legal procedure. In September 2006, officials of the university's Communist Party had taken Mr. Mei to the brainwashing centre for practising Falun Gong. He was subjected to brainwashing attempts there for over forty days.
  • 56-Year-Old Ms. Yang Qin of Chongqing Arrested for the Fifth Time

    On February 3rd, 2010, when Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yang Qin was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong at the food market, she was arrested by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. The officials told her family members that she would be detained for fifteen days, however after Ms. Yang had a full physical examination, she was sent to the Women's Forced Labour Camp for further persecution. Ms. Yang went on a long-term hunger strike to protest the persecution, and was eventually sent to a hospital once her life was in danger. Ms. Yang has now been arrested five times.
  • Ms. Li Qing Sentenced to Six Years of Imprisonment

    Ms. Li Qing was previously an employee of the Department of Supplies and Sales in the county government before she was dismissed from her job for refusing to renounce her belief in Falun Gong. On August 20th, 2009, Li Qing and three other female practitioners were arrested by police. They were detained at the county detention centre. The four practitioners were tortured during their detention period. They were forced to stand still for long periods of time, and deprived of sleep. A torture method called the "tiger bench" was used on them, too. Eventually, three of the practitioners were released while only Li Qing remained in custody. Her family members were not permitted to visit her. On January 12th, 2010, Li Qing was sentenced to six years of imprisonment and sent to the Shandong Women's Prison.
  • Ms. Li Fengxiu and Mr. Wan Guohua from Nancheng County, Jiangxi Province, Held in Custody

    Ms. Li Fengxiu and Mr. Wan Guohua from Nancheng County, Jiangxi Province, were arrested on the evening of January 9th, 2010. They are now in custody at the Linchuan Police Department. To help more people to learn the facts about Falun Gong, the two went together to Dongguan Town in the Linchuan District to distribute Falun Gong materials on the evening of January 9th, 2010. Dongguan Police Station patrol officers arrested and detained them at the Shangdundu Detention Centre in Fuzhou City. The Linchuan Police Department officials transferred their case to the Procuratorate, but prosecutors rejected the case and returned it to the police department. The police department officials refuse to release them.
  • Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Yuan Guoqing from Xinhua County, Hunan Province, Again Sentenced to Forced Labour

    Mr. Yuan Guoqing, an employee of Xinhua County Meishan Technology Co. Ltd, Haili, Hunan Province, has been arrested and sentenced to forced labour again. On March 16th, 2010, two strangers approached Mr. Yuan at work. At around 3:00 p.m., police officers from Xinhua County Domestic Security Division forced their way into the plant area and arrested him. They ransacked his storage area at work and forcibly put him into a car without letting him put on his jacket. They took him straight to Fenglin Detention Centre.
  • Four Practitioners in Kaijiang County, Sichuan Province Sentenced

    The appeal by four Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Wu Licui, 55; Ms. Liu Mingying, 59; Mr. Li Bending, 65; and Ms. Wang Langying, 59, in Kaijiang County, Sichuan Province was rejected by the Dazhou City Intermediate Court on January 14th, 2010. The court upheld the verdict to incarcerate the four practitioners in the Jianyang Prison, which was delivered on September 21st, 2009. Mr. Li Bending and his wife Ms. Liu Mingying were at home when police arrested them on July 22nd, 2008. Ms. Wu Licui was not at home on July 31st, 2008 when officers from the Kaijiang County National Security Bureau and the 610 Office visited and ransacked her home. On August 17th, the police wiretapped and tracked her phone and eventually arrested her when she was out of town visiting a relative. On August 28th, the police officially announced the arrest of Ms. Wu.