Illegal Detention and Imprisonment

  • Eight Women Practitioners Arrested in Nanchang City

    On April 30th, 2009, eight female practitioners from Nanchang city, Jiangxi province were studying Falun Gong teachings at 60-year-old Ms. Leung Meihua's home when more than 10 police officers arrested them. Ms. Leung Meihua and Ms. Jiang Lanying are still detained at a detention centre. Ms. Leung Meihua was only allowed to sleep for less than three hours and forced to stand for over 10 hours a day because she refused to give up her practice.
  • More Than Ten Practitioners Arrested in Loudi City, Hunan Province

    On July 15th, 2009, the police in Loudi City, Hunan Province raided more than ten practitioners' homes, arrested practitioners and some of their family members, and seized computers, printers, TVs, DVDs, and other items. After being forced to write guarantee statements to renounce Falun Gong the family members and new practitioners were released. Other practitioners are still being detained. Mr. Jiang Mogui and Ms. Deng are in their seventies. They have been repeatedly harassed by police officers and agents from the 610 Office for advocating for Falun Gong in public places.
  • Mr. Deng Xiaoming, a Falun Gong Practitioner from Huayang City, Sentenced to Six and Half Years in Prison

    On July 8th, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Deng Xiaoming, a teacher in Huayang Teacher Training School, was sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment by Shuangliu Court. The court tried to prevent Mr. Deng's defence lawyers, Xie Yanyi and Li Chunfu, from defending him in court. After an hour-long argument, the two lawyers finally were permitted to attend the trial as Mr. Deng's representatives. The judge interrupted the defence attorneys several times in an attempt to halt their accusations. In the end, the court sentenced Mr. Deng to six and half years in prison, even though the prosecution was unable to provide any legal basis or advance any further arguments.
  • Ms. Li Shihong's Family Persecuted for Ten Years

    Lu Hai, a 13-year-old boy, had to live with his grandmother, Song Wenxiu, after his father, Lu Qiqi, and his mother, Li Shihong, were arrested last year because they practise Falun Gong. Then, on June 12th, 2009, when Jiang'an District Court held a trial for three Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Song Wenxiu wanted to be present. When she neared the courthouse, she was arrested by police. She was later detained in the Chenjiaji Brainwashing Centre. Poor little Lu Hai now has to live all by himself. He has lost his dear grandmother, who looked after him. In Lu Hai's memory, there were few times when his whole family was ever together over the past ten years. His father, his mother, and even his grandmother were often arrested. There are many incurable wounds to his fragile heart.
  • Six Women Falun Gong Practitioners from Jining City Were Sentenced to Prison

    Recently, six women Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced in Jining City, Shandong Province. Among them, Ms. Li Fengyun, 69 years old, was sentenced to three years imprisonment and is now being detained in Yuhuatai Prison in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. Ms. Xu Binhai, in her 60s, was sentenced to three years and is now in Yuhuatai Prison
  • Ms. Wang Yong, Middle School Teacher in Kunming City, in Critical Condition after Falling from Fifth Floor during Police Arrest

    Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Yong is a teacher in the Panlong District First Middle School in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. On June 24th, 2009, while fleeing from unjust arrest, Ms. Wang fell from the fifth floor, which left her in critical condition. She suffered three broken ribs, broken sternum, and a fracture in her right arm. Her left side was heavily bruised. She was unable to move and speaking took tremendous effort. Her family was not informed until the day after. Officers threatened her family not to disclose her situation; otherwise, her husband's job, her family's safety and her child's college enrolment would be at stake.
  • Teacher in Her 50s Arrested Again after Years of Humiliation and Torture

    Ms. Li Xiuzhen is in her 50s. Persistent in her belief in Falun Gong, refusing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) demands to renounce her faith, she has been arrested nineteen times. She has been sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment, cruelly force-fed over 600 times, and tortured and humiliated with a dozen of different torture devices, including sleep deprivation and being beaten. On June 13th, 2009, Ms. Li Xiuzhen was once again arrested by police.
  • Harbin City Police Conspire with the Local Court System to Prevent Practitioner Li Zhigang from Receiving Legal Defence

    The police department, the local procuratorial system, and the local court system in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province conspired to prevent Falun Gong practitioner Li Zhigang's defence lawyer from mounting a legal defence to prove his innocence. Li's legal counsel is a conscientious lawyer from Beijing. He received a notice from a so-called prosecutor named Song Chengzhang of the Nangang District Court on June 17th, 2009. According to the notice, the court was going to conduct the trial for Li Zhigang's case at 9:00 a.m. on June 22nd. The lawyer then travelled from Beijing to Harbin and appeared at the Nangang District Court on June 22nd. On that day, Song told the lawyer, "The city sent out an ad-doc notice. It said that this case is a special case and the trial will not take place today after all.
  • The Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioner Liang Keming

    Since Jiang Zemin's, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] regime started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, Liang Keming has been arrested and detained by the police many times. In February 2001, the police broke into his home and detained him in the Loudi City Detention Centre. Later he was sentenced to seven years in prison and finally released in February 2008. However, Mr. Liang is again subjected to persecution by police and was arrested again on June 25th, 2009. Now he is detained in the First Detention Centre of Loudi City.
  • Four People in One Family Arrested, Young Child Left Homeless

    More than ten police officers from the Hengshan District in Jixi City rushed into the home of senior citizen Mr. Xiang Hongfu on May 14th, 2009, at 4:00 a.m. Mr. Xiang is a Falun Gong practitioner who lives with his wife in the Dahengshan residential area. The police ransacked his home, making a mess, and arrested him; his wife, Yu Shuqin; son, Xiang Bin; and daughter-in-law, Huang Yingjie. The police also confiscated a number of family possessions. The four adults are being held at the Jixi Detention Centre. Mr. Xiang's young grandson, with no one at home to take care of him, became homeless.
  • Pan Feng Arrested and His Wife Close to Giving Birth

    On June 28th, 2009, Mr. Pan Feng was spotted while he was distributing Falun Gong DVDs in the student dormitory of Lideyuan in Binwen Higher Education Park, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The Puyan Police Station dispatched two vehicles and seven or eight policemen to arrest Mr. Pan. The police forced him to take off his shoes and confiscated his credit card, MP3 player, Falun Gong books, and other items. Mr. Pan was detained in the Puyan Police Station. Pan Feng has been transferred the Hangzhou Detention Centre. His wife is close to giving birth.
  • Police Arrest and Brutally Torture Ms. Yang Wenjie and Ransack Her Home

    On June 1st, 2009, Ms. Yang Wenjie was about to leave her home and had just walked down the stairs when she was arrested by over twenty police from the Zhaoyuan Police Department. As soon as they saw Ms. Yang, they surrounded her, beat and kicked her to the ground, grabbed her arms, stole her house key, and handcuffed her hands behind her back before dragging her into a car. They ransacked her home and confiscated Ms. Yang's friend's computer, printer and various Falun Gong books.
  • Changchun City Intermediate Court Obstructs Human Rights Lawyers from Defending Falun Gong Practitioners

    On March 27th, 2009, the Nong'an County Court in Jilin Province held a "public sentencing" of seven Falun Gong practitioners without notifying any family members. After that day, other practitioners and their families hired fourteen human rights lawyers to defend them at the second trial. The Changchun City Intermediate Court continues to obstruct the involvement of the lawyers in this case. After overcoming various obstacles, the fourteen lawyers delivered the lawyers' letter to the intermediate court. The court was afraid after seeing this large team of lawyers that were defending the practitioners, so they never responded regarding the date of the second trial. The date of the second trial is still in limbo.
  • Older Practitioner Ms. Peng Xiaomei from Hunan Province Forced into Brainwashing Centre

    On June 9th, 2009, Ms. Peng Xiaomei, 56, a Falun Gong practitioner retired from China Construction Bank in Hunan Province, was arrested by the Liuzhengjie Public Security Bureau in Changsha City. Without any legal representation or judicial protocol, Ms. Peng was taken to the Changsha City Rule of Law Education Training Centre (a brainwashing centre) in Laodaohe Town, Kaifu District, Changsha City. Over the last decade Ms. Peng has endured much harassment and numerous arrests at the hands of the local authorities.
  • Practitioners Harassed at the Qingpu District Domestic Security Section in Huai'an City, Jiangshu Province

    The Qingpu District Domestic Security Section in Huai'an City, Jiangshu Province, has harassed more than ten practitioners in the last two months. Ms. Sha Suyun, 74, was arrested on May 25th, 2009, by police and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. The officers searched her home and interrogated her at the Zhakou Police Station and later at the Qingpu Police Department. Officer Ma Erhua forced her to sign a notice stating that she was sentenced to one year of forced labour and that she would serve her sentence outside the labour camp.