Mr. Du Xiangzhong Arrested Again after Years of Severe Persecution

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Du Xiangzhong from Mengyin County, Shandong Province was arrested on January 4th, 2013 while he was talking to people about Falun Gong in Ju County, Rizhao City.

Mr. Du, 48, is from Gaozhuang Village, Mengyin Town, Mengyin County, Shandong Province. Over the 10-plus years of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong, he was imprisoned and beaten multiple times, and twice taken to a forced labour camp. In addition, he has been extorted for over 30,000 yuan¹.

Changed by Falun Gong

Before he began practising Falun Gong, Mr. Du suffered from a number of physical ailments, including stomach and heart disease, as well as anxiety-driven headaches and insomnia. His memory deteriorated significantly from the headaches and insomnia, to the point that he became unable to write contracts for his business negotiations. His poor health and diminished job performance led to general depression. Seeing that taking drugs had little effect, Mr. Du took up several qigong practices but there was still no improvement in his health. He was plagued by pain and illness for 20 years.

In 1997 a friend of Mr. Du's introduced Falun Gong to him. The teachings of Falun Gong guide practitioners to cultivate according to the characteristic of the universe, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and teach looking inward whenever one encounters any issues and to always consider others first. After he began practising Falun Gong, Mr. Du strictly followed the requirements of the practice. His view of life completely changed and he became more optimistic and open, never taking it seriously when he was taken advantage of. His actions and words reflected the wonder of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and was widely acknowledged as being a good person by his village and work unit. In the past, as he was the head of the household, though he didn't speak rudely or behave harshly, he had the mentality of a ruler. After practising Falun Gong, he never again held grudges against his family, and he became very caring of his wife instead of having his wife serve him as in the past.

While he was strictly following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, all of Mr. Du's diseases disappeared. Falun Gong's powerful health effects manifested, and his body weight increased from 60 kg to 75 kg. Because of his good health and high morality, Mr. Du gained the trust of his clients and praise from his superiors and colleagues. His job performance was excellent and he was awarded the “excellent worker prize” each year since he started practising Falun Gong.

Tortured after Going to Beijing to Appeal

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, facing the hysterical slander on TV, radio and newspapers, Mr. Du decided to go to Beijing to tell the government officials the facts of Falun Gong to help them understand Falun Gong and restore the reputation of Falun Gong. On December 21st, 2000 he took a train headed to Beijing.

On the morning of December 22nd, 2000, Mr. Du unfolded a banner reading “Falun Gong is good” on Tiananmen Square. He was arrested by plainclothes policemen and imprisoned at the Tiananmen Square Police Station, where several hundred Falun Gong practitioners who had gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong had already been detained. Among the detained practitioners were older people and mothers with young babies. In the afternoon, the police intended to transfer the practitioners to various detention centres. The practitioners formed a human wall by locking their arms together. The police could not pull away even a single practitioner and the standstill lasted for over two hours. Finally, a dozen policemen violently beat the practitioners with rubber batons. Several practitioners were bleeding from the nose and mouth. An older practitioner was beaten to the point of nonstop vomiting. Thus, these several hundred practitioners were dragged into vehicles and driven to detention centres located in the suburbs of Beijing.

Mr. Du and around 30 practitioners were taken to the Yanqing Detention Centre. Fourteen practitioners were imprisoned inside one cell and there was no place to sleep. Mr. Du had to lie on the cement floor near the door every night. When the wardens interrogated him they shocked him with electric batons three or four times, causing him to shake uncontrollably, feel numb and lose strength. A few days later Mr. Du was taken back to Mengyin County by police officer Liu Zhaoguo from the Mengyin County Domestic Security Division, who robbed him of 300 yuan.

It was already midnight when Mr. Du was taken to the Jushan Town Police Station in Mengyin County. Two policemen at the county police department interrogated Mr. Du. They forced him to sit on the cement floor with his legs stretched out. They then took off Mr. Du's coat and pulled off his shoes and socks with an iron hook to force him to tell the names of fellow practitioners who went to Beijing with him. When Mr. Du refused to answer, they used the hook to pull on the bottom of his feet, creating three bloody wounds. On December 29th, 2000 Mr. Du was taken to the county detention centre.

Tortured at the County Brainwashing Centre

After being imprisoned at the county detention centre for over 10 days, on January 19th, 2001 Mr. Du was taken to the Mengyin County Brainwashing Centre established by the Mengyin County 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). At that time, the 610 Office personnel included Li Zhiye (former Secretary of the County Political and Judiciary Committee), Nei Yancheng (former director of the County 610 Office), Xing Xianying (former deputy director of the County 610 Office), and Jiao Yuxiang, Fang Simin, Wang Xin, as well as thugs hired off the street.

The practitioners were all imprisoned in isolation. In their cells there was only a grass mat on the floor, a bucket in which to relieve themselves, a basin for washing, and a bowl for eating. The practitioners were imprisoned alone for long periods of time. There were no books to read and no one to talk with. They were only allowed to sleep four or five hours. Even the thugs said, “If I was locked up like this, in just two hours I would become a lunatic.” But Nei Yancheng actually imprisoned Mr. Du like this for 108 days! They used this torture to wear down the practitioners' will and force them to give up their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Besides the solitary confinement, Mr. Du was brutally beaten every few days. On January 20th, 2001, when Nei Yancheng interrogated Mr. Du about his reason for going to Beijing, he didn't like Mr. Du's answer so he angrily shouted, “Slap his face for me!” Wang Xin immediately jumped up and slapped Mr. Du's face. Another thug surnamed Wang also came up and they both slapped Mr. Du until his mouth was trickling blood.

Several days later, Wang Xin brought over 10 thugs to Mr. Du's cell, asking him whether he still practised Falun Gong. Mr. Du replied, “Practising Falun Gong is good for your health and promotes one's morality; why not practise it?” Upon hearing this, Wang Xin ordered the thugs to beat Mr. Du. One thug stepped on Mr. Du's head and the others struck his buttocks with rubber batons. After the thugs left, it took Mr. Du a long time to recover to the point where he could stand up. His buttocks were black and purple from the beatings and he couldn't sit or stand for over 10 days.

One day at noon, three or four thugs came into Mr. Du's cell, and without speaking a word, they threw him to the ground, covered his face with a quilt and beat his whole body with rubber batons, followed by kicking him until Mr. Du fainted. The thugs then poured cold water on him to wake him up.

One night at about 9 p.m., Nei Yancheng brought several people with him to ask Mr. Du his thoughts about Dafa. Not getting the answer he wanted, Nei angrily said, “Strip off his clothes for me.” Mr. Du was taken outdoors with only pajamas on and was handcuffed to an iron bar on the ground. That day was very cold with a temperature of about 14 F. Nei said, “If he doesn't give in he will be left outdoors to freeze.” Mr. Du was handcuffed outdoors for a whole night. When he couldn't squat anymore he had to sit on the icy ground. His whole body was trembling from the cold.

During the 108 days of his imprisonment, Mr. Du cannot count how many times he was beaten. In March 2001 after being forced to pay over 6,000 yuan, he was finally released.

In April 2001, signs reading “Falun Gong is good” were posted all over the roadside. Personnel from Mengyin County Brainwashing Centre ordered Mr. Du to come with them. Upon his arrival, Wang Wei and Jian Jiafeng, police officers from the County Domestic Security Division, were waiting for him. Wang Wei forced Mr. Du to sit on the cement floor with his legs stretched out and then kicked him and stood on his legs. They then fabricated a charge against Mr. Du and forced him to pay a fine of 200 yuan.

Imprisoned Twice in Labour Camps

In the spring of 2002, Mr. Du was arrested at work by a secretary surnamed Yi from the Mengyin Town Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) and Wang Yeyi, the deputy director of the Jushan Police Station. That afternoon, they brought over 10 people to Gaozhuang Village in Mengyin Town to ransack Mr. Du's home. There was no one at home so they tried to pry open the gate and the security door with a steel spade. They damaged the door but still couldn't open it. Unable to get into Mr. Du's home, they broke a window and pried open the 12 steel bars behind the window. They then climbed in and ransacked his home. They even pried open the security door from inside, and left the home in a terrible mess. The desk was damaged, a CD player and Falun Gong books were stolen, and even the 30 yuan that Mr. Du's child had received as a holiday gift was taken away. A neighbour commented upon witnessing their acts, “It's just like a group of bandits breaking into your home.”

Mr. Du was once again imprisoned at the Mengyin County Brainwashing Centre. When officer Wang Wei was interrogating Mr. Du, Mr. Du clarified the facts about Dafa to him. Not only did Wang Wei refuse to listen, but he was angry and upset. At that time, Mr. Du had been on a hunger strike for three days to resist the persecution. Despite Mr. Du's weakened condition, Wang Wei grabbed him by his hair and slammed his head against the wall and then struck his chest with his fist. Mr. Du was later taken to the county detention centre and imprisoned for over 20 days, and then sentenced to two years of forced labour. Five people including Wang Wei, former director of the Jiepai Police Station Shi Kuang, and a deputy director of the Yedian Police Station surnamed Wang, brought Mr. Du and Mr. Zhou Liliang (a Falun Gong practitioner from Mengyin Town) to Wangcun Forced Labour Camp. However, the labor camp refused to accept them because they failed the physical examination.

Mr. Du was brought back to the Mengyin County Brainwashing Centre, where he went on a hunger strike to protest. In the afternoon of the fourth day of his hunger strike, over ten thugs carried him into a vehicle and drove to the Mengyin County Traditional Medicine Hospital for forced-feeding. Seven or eight people held Mr. Du down on a bed while a doctor tried to insert a tube into his nose and mouth. When Mr. Du resisted, the doctor took a pair of pliers and with a cracking sound, Mr. Du's tooth was broken off and his mouth bled. He was imprisoned for over 40 days and extorted out of 23,000 yuan before being released.

At about 10 p.m. on September 23rd, 2006, Zhang Yong, head of the Mengyin County Domestic Security Division, and officer Wang Wei brought over 20 policemen to break into Mr. Du's home. Mr. Du's family members shouted, “Come look! Bandits have broken into our house!” The neighbors were alerted and ran over. They witnessed the scene of police breaking into Mr. Du's residence and arresting innocent people. Mr. Du and his wife were both arrested and only their teenage child was left at home. Mr. Du's wife Gong Fengying resisted orders from the police and returned home. Police officer Wang Wei handcuffed Mr. Du to an iron chair to interrogate him and Mr. Du resisted. Wang Wei became enraged and beat him severely. He struck Mr. Du three times with his fist and took the 90 yuan that he had on him.

The next morning, police officer Liu Zhaoguo from the County Domestic Security Division interrogated Mr. Du. Mr. Du resisted the interrogation. Liu Zhaoguo and Wang Wei then took him to the county detention centre and imprisoned him there.

At the county detention center, Wang Wei, Yao Xingdong and a policeman from the County Domestic Security Division interrogated Mr. Du again.

After being imprisoned for 23 days at the county detention center, Mr. Du was taken to Wangcun Forced Labour Camp on October 20th, 2006 for three years of forced labour.

At the Wangcun Forced Labour Camp, the wardens ordered former Falun Gong practitioners who had renounced Dafa under pressure to torture Mr. Du both mentally and physically. Mr. Du resisted all the attempts to force him to renounce his belief. Once, when the collaborators² tried to brainwash Mr. Du, he became suddenly ill. He was taken to a hospital for examination and the diagnosis was that his life was in danger; his blood pressure was high and his pulse was too fast. The next day he was examined again and the diagnosis was even worse. Mr. Du went on a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment and refused to go to the hospital for treatment. The police asked Mr. Du who should be held responsible if something were to happen to him. Mr. Du said, “The labour camp has to be responsible. I am innocent and this is all due to your persecution.”

The wardens at the labour camp became very worried and urged the Mengyin County 610 Office to take Mr. Du back. The Mengyin County 610 Office dared not take the responsibility for his possible death, so they handed over his case to the Mengyin Town 610 Office. The Mengyin Town 610 Office also dared not take any responsibility and refused to take Mr. Du. The wardens at the labour camp feared that Mr. Du would die at the labour camp, so on November 10th, 2006 they rushed to dispatch a vehicle to take Mr. Du back to the Mengyin Town 610 Office and allow his family members to take him home. The same day that Mr. Du returned home, his symptoms disappeared, manifesting Falun Gong's power and might.

Harassed and Arrested Once Again

On March 17th, 2009 Mr. Du's wife Ms. Gong Fengying was chatting with a neighbour at their rental home when she heard noises outside. The neighbor said, “I haven't locked my door so I need to hurry back home. Thieves frequently come to my yard.” As Ms. Gong opened the door to send her neighbor off, she saw that a ladder had been set up at the south side of the entrance (refer to the picture below) and a group of plainclothes police stood nearby. Ms. Gong hurried to close the door but the police forcibly pushed open the door to get in. Fang Simin, head of the Mengyin County 610 Office, had already stealthily climbed up to the roof on the ladder, and upon seeing the door being opened, he hurried down and entered Mr. Du's home.

Ms. Gong confronted Fang Simin, “Why do you come again? That year you forcibly took my husband away and even robbed him of all his money. My husband was persecuted for a year at your hands. He just barely escaped death. Now you come again; what do you want?”

On January 4th, 2013, Mr. Du Xiangzhong was once again arrested while he was talking to people about Falun Gong in Ju County, Rizhao City.

Personnel involved in the persecution of Mr. Du Xiangzhong:

Head of Mengyin County Police Department, Zheng Zhaoxin: +86-13905392797
Xu Tianmin: +86-13605396853
Bian Dayong: +86-13905392102
Liu Daoyu: +86-13905490861
Liu Changbo 135896680586

Wang Zaien, head of Mengyin County 610 Office: +86-18653968566
Li Jian, head of Mengyin County Domestic Security Division: +86-13905490785

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "Collaborators" (former practitioners, brainwashed against Falun Gong, made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners)