Authorities Torture a Man, Breaking His Leg, Then Refuse to Allow Him to Meet With His Attorney

Mr. Liu Wei is a Falun Gong practitioner from Nong’an County, Jilin Province. Police arrested him in November 2012 and tortured him numerous times. Along with the other injuries he suffered, his leg was broken.

His family hired an attorney, but Nongan Detention Centre officials prevented Mr. Liu from meeting with his attorney. After the attorney left, Mr. Liu was tortured again by being locked to the ground and stretched for a long time.

Arrested Almost a Year Ago

Agents from the Domestic Security Division arrested Mr. Liu at home in the evening on November 2nd, 2012. After taking him to an interrogation room at Criminal Unit 5, Domestic Security Division head Tang Ke and other agents tied him to an iron chair with ropes. They handcuffed him to the back, tied up his legs, and beat his legs with a pickaxe handle. Despite the torture, Mr. Liu refused to give up his belief or turn in other practitioners.

Next, the guards removed all his clothes except for his underwear, and opened all the windows and doors. They poured cold water over him and turned on an electric fan. After the water dried, they poured water over him again and whipped him with a wet towel. They also inserted a wooden stick and pickaxe handle between the ropes he was tied up with and twisted them, nearly suffocating him. This torture continued till 5 a.m. the next morning. Mr. Liu was covered with bruises.

Leg Broken Due to Torture

Guards took Mr. Liu to Nongan Detention Centre in the evening on November 3rd and tortured him even more during interrogation. They struck him so hard with the pickaxe handle that he fainted. On November 6th they began another round of torture, which lasted from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. This time his right shin bone was broken. When he was dragged back to the cell, the inmates were shocked at his appearance: his entire face was swollen and his shins were thicker than his thighs. He was covered with bruises: from his knees to his feet, even his toes and foot arches. The inmates were surprised by guards’ brutality. Because a bone in his lower leg was broken, Mr. Liu could not stand for more than 10 days. Nonetheless, guards did not stop abusing him and continued to beat him.

Denied Access to His Attorney

After they learned how he was being tortured, Mr. Liu’s family hired an attorney for him, who followed legal procedures and asked to see him on September 2nd, 2013. When Nonggan Detention Centre head Li Qingguo denied the request, the attorney said he reserved the right to sue him. After the attorney left, the guards continued to torture Mr. Liu by restraining him flat on the ground and stretching him all day.

According to reports on Minghui, police from Changchun City and Nongan County arrested more than 20 Falun Gong practitioners between November 2nd and 3rd, 2012. Guards tortured them to extract "evidence" with which to charge them. They tortured several practitioners, including Mr. Liu Wei, Zhang Guozhen, Yang Hongbiao, Xiu Jixue, Chang Baojun, Wang Yajuan, and Yang Wenjuan. Among them, Mr. Liu Wei was treated the worst.

Police also ransacked Mr. Liu’s home. They took 100,000 yuan¹ in cash, his stamp collection (valued at more than 300,000 yuan), laptop, desktop computer, printer, DVD burner, mobile phones, and other personal belongings.

Family Implicated

Mr. Liu was a respected officer at Nongan Oil Refinery. In addition to taking care of his own school-aged child, he also adopted three children whose parents had been persecuted. After Mr. Liu was arrested, the police went to interrogate his daughter, Liu Yang, who is in college. They also took Li Mingyang, one of Mr. Liu's adopted children, to the police department for interrogation.

In bringing these seven detained practitioners to trial, Nongan County officials have prevented the attorneys from accessing the files and from meeting with their clients, saying they were following orders from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). They sought to prevent the attorneys from pleading not guilty for their clients. The practitioners are still in the Nongan Detention Centre.

Note

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