Officials with the Chinese government's Political and Legal Affairs Committee ordered a massive arrest of Falun Gong practitioners on February 25th, 2012. After hearing that Tangshan City practitioner Mr. Zheng Xiangxing was one of those arrested, 562 local residents signed their names with fingerprints to rescue him.
Tangshan Political and Legal Affairs Committee officials ignored their petition and threatened those who signed it. They then sentenced Mr. Zheng to 10 years in prison.
The officials' complete refusal to even consider their request fueled more dissatisfaction and complaints from the residents, and led to another wave of signatures to show their support.
Due to injuries he suffered as a result of being severely tortured at Baoding Prison, Mr. Zheng had to undergo two brain surgeries. Although he was in a life-threatening condition, officials still refused to release him on medical parole.
The torture Mr. Zheng was subjected to and the way officials attempted to cover it up drew more and more attention from residents, and the number who wished to show their support increased. Between March 2012 and March 2013, 10,852 residents signed their names with their fingerprints, seeking Mr. Zheng's released.
This is not the first rescue effort that garnered more than 10,000 signatures. When practitioner Mr. Qin Yueming from Heilongjiang Province died as a direct result of torture while being detained, 15,000 people signed the petition to appeal. After regime agents abused Shijiazhuang City residents who signed a 700-signature rescue letter, even more people joined in, and a total of 10,995 residents signed the petition.
Such large scale incidents highlight the fact that people have woken up, and many of them have joined the effort to support innocent Falun Gong practitioners and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Bad tempered man becomes an honest merchant after practising Falun Gong
According to Mr. Zheng Xiangxing’s wife, Ms. Sun Suyun, Mr. Zheng used to be a small-minded person who often fought. When the police stopped him for an expired driver's licence in 2001, he fought with them and was detained for two weeks.
A Falun Gong practitioner was detained in Mr. Zheng's cell. Mr. Zheng observed the practitioner's kind behaviour and became interested in practising. After returning home, he read the Falun Gong book Zhuan Falun. Not only did his temper improve, he also advised his friends to stop fighting. When they saw how kind and honest he became, they followed his example and also changed.
Mr. Zheng and his wife owned an electronics store in Tanghai County. Because they worked hard and were very honest, their business did very well. After Mr. Zheng began practising Falun Gong, he often helped others, and many people respected him. That is why, after he was arrested, many people knew he was innocent and signed their names to rescue him.
Brutal and absurd persecution steps up the signature campaign
Mr. Zheng was arrested on February 25th, 2012. Although the prosecutors had nothing to say in rebuttal to Mr. Zheng's two lawyers' defense statements, Tanghai County Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison on May 29th.
Inside the courtroom, the judges were silent after Mr. Zheng and his attorneys made their statements. When three appeal letters, accompanied by 562 signatures, were circulated among officials, they did not know what to say, either. Nonetheless, the judges followed the instructions of the Tangshan 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and sentenced him.
Outside the courtroom, hundreds of people were waiting, since the officials would not let them in. When they heard that the defense had gone well and the court had adjourned, they were very emotional. As Mr. Zheng stepped out of the courthouse, many people were calling out, “Falun Gong is good!” This was a big event in Tanghai County, and 4,000 people signed the letter requesting his release.
Mr. Zheng was sent to Baoding Prison on August 8th, 2012. As a result of being tortured, he had a brain hemorrhage on October 26th and ended up in the First Central Hospital in Baoding the next day. He was operated on twice, and a portion of his brain was removed. After the hospital ran several CT scans, it was believed that the majority of his brain cells were dead, but then Mr. Zheng miraculously regained consciousness.
It was reported that Baoding Prison officials stated, “Everything would have been easier if Zheng Xiangxing had died.” Not long after, it was learned that the prison officials planned to transfer Mr. Zheng to a prison hospital even though he was still in critical condition.
Baoding Prison guards often brutally beat practitioners who refused to give up their practice. Some were killed outright or were severely injured. For example,
– Cangzhou City jewelry store owner Mr. Guo Hanpo died while imprisoned there, but prison officials refused to tell his family how he was abused or the cause of his death. Prison officials refused to give his family his body for burial but instead, against Chinese custom, cremated him in Baoding City.
– Mr. Lu Xinshu, a Shijiazhuang elementary school teacher, had severe liver ascites from being tortured and later died.
– Zhuozhou City farmer Mr. Wang Gang was disabled due to the severity of the torture he was subjected to. He had an amputation and later died.
– After being severely beaten, Mr. Li Yansheng from Xingtai City lost a finger and suffered internal injuries to his pancreas, liver, gall bladder, stomach, and bladder.
A doctor’s exam showed Mr. Zheng’s skull cracked on the left side, probably from a heavy blow. Prison officials claimed it happened when he fell down. But from the video, Mr. Zheng’s bottom touched the floor first, which would unlikely lead to a cracked skull.
Inexplicably, doctors at the First Central Hospital in Baoding unnecessarily removed part of his skull on the right side, cutting out brain tissue responsible for memory and vision. They cut his trachea but did not insert a medical device normally used on emergency patients. It seems all these procedures were done not to save Mr. Zheng's life, but to prevent him from telling anyone what happened.
After this news spread in Tangshan City, the number of people who signed the petition increased to 7,000. They asked that his case be investigated and that those responsible be brought to justice.
Baoding Prison's continued deception leads to more than 10,000 signatures
After Mr. Zheng’s harrowing experience was exposed to the international community, Baoding Prison assigned special officials to handle the publicity. They provided timely updates to Hebei Province 610 Office and used several approaches to deal with Mr. Zheng’s family.
In order to avoid being sued, they continued to lie to Mr. Zheng’s family. When his family appealed, they found excuses to shirk their responsibility for his condition and refused to release him.
When an attorney charged prison officials with intentionally harming a detainee, deputy prison chief Fan Jianli completely ignored Mr. Zheng's dire condition and took him from the prison hospital back to prison, shocking everyone.
After Mr. Zheng was transferred back to a prison cell, his wife, Ms. Sun Suyun, went to Baoding Prison to request his release.
When people in Mr. Zheng’s hometown heard that the prison refused to release him despite his condition, many wanted to help. Between December 6th, 2012, and March 10th, 2013, 10,852 people signed the petition.
When practitioner Mr. Xu Dawei in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, died due to torture in prison, 376 people signed the petition. This public show of sympathy shocked the CCP Central Government.
Zhou Yongkang ordered local officials to investigate and suppress the public response, indicating that the CCP is afraid of people learning the truth and speaking out. However, as a direct result of the CCP's effort, the 562 signatures in Tangshan increased to 10,000.
Tangshan City Political and Legal Affairs Committee officials not only sentenced Mr. Zheng to imprisonment, but also sent two practitioners to forced labour camps for collecting signatures. They also threatened those who signed their names.
Motivated petitioners
The CCP's continuing atrocities and suppression of people's freedom of speech have made people see even more clearly just how brutal the Party really is.
After one young woman in her 20s signed her name, there was no stamp-pad ink left so she could place her fingerprint. She said, “Give me a needle and I will prick my finger and press my fingerprint.” Many people were impressed by her determination.
One resident said, “I've signed my name many times in my life, and this is the only time it had a meaningful purpose.”
One lady in her 70s said, “He [Mr. Zheng] is such a good person and was sentenced to 10 years. This society seems hopeless.”
Many people said they were grateful for Falun Gong and very happy to have an opportunity to make a statement for Falun Gong.
When one middle-aged businessman heard that Falun Gong practitioners were collecting signatures, he was very happy and said, “I will sign my name. I've often gotten informational materials about Falun Gong and I've installed a dish to watch NTDTV. After I did that, my business and my personal life went very well. I know it is a blessing from Falun Gong. I am glad for this opportunity to do something for them.”
Society's opposition to the persecution is on the rise, and the regime's defamation campaign against Falun Gong, which has gone on for more than a decade, will end in failure. More and more people are stepping forward to support Falun Gong, indicating that the CCP’s brutality and lies are leading to its collapse.
Background
After Liu Jiaman (Tanghai County Police Department deputy chief) and Li Fuguo (Domestic Security Division chief) arrested Mr. Zheng on February 25th, 2012, he was kept in a detention centre. Within a month, he was emaciated and on the brink of death.
Mr. Zheng was taken to Ankang Hospital in Tangshan on April 6th and placed on trial in Tanghai County court on May 29th. He was sentenced to 10 years on July 26th and taken to Baoding Prison on August 8th. Tortured in the Strict Monitoring Unit to "transform" [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] him, on October 26th, his skull was fractured.
The persecution has elicited sympathy for Falun Gong and condemnation of the regime’s brutality.
As more and more people sign their names to support Mr. Zheng, they are standing up for justice as true cornerstones of society.
Earlier reports:
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/6/9/133877.html
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/9/6/135301.html
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/8/10/134874.html
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/8/26/135159.html
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/9/7/135319.html
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2013/1/14/137106.html
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