Appalling Abuse of Falun Gong Practitioners in Fujian Province

Since Jiang's regime instigated the all out persecution of Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, practitioners from Pucheng, Fujian Province, have remained firm in their belief in Teacher and steadfast in cultivating Dafa. They have gone to Beijing to appeal for Dafa under their basic constitutional rights guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution. They have experienced the full extent of the persecution.

Over the past years, seven practitioners have been illegally sentenced to prison. Another seven have been sentenced to forced labour camps. There are 42 people being illegally detained as criminals, and 55 being illegally detained for "public security reasons." None of the practitioners who have been illegally detained have been spared from having their homes searched and their belongings confiscated by the police. The police have tried to extort money from them, anywhere from 31,000 Yuan to 2,000 Yuan. In total, the police have extorted nearly 100,000 Yuan. [the average monthly income for an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan].

At the beginning of November 1999, 11 practitioners went to Beijing together to appeal for Dafa and were charged with "disturbing the social order and security" and were illegally detained either as criminals or for "security reasons."

In mid-March 2000, a practitioner unfurled a banner with the words "Falun Dafa will exist forever throughout the generations" and was immediately arrested by the police to be sent back to Pucheng. This practitioner was illegally sentenced to one year of forced labour. The police also forced this practitioner's workplace (a company that was on the brink of bankruptcy) to hand in 12,000 Yuan to the public security office.

At the end of March 2000, six practitioners went to Beijing again to demand justice and were illegally detained. The 1,300 Yuan that Mr. Zhang Zhaoli had with him was confiscated by the staff of the Nanping Liaison Office in Beijing. The six of them were illegally detained either as criminals or for security reasons. Zhang Zhaoli was sentenced to a year of forced labour after the police severely tortured him. Several times, Tang Huizhen's release date was postponed because he refused to write the "three statements" guaranteeing he would not practise or appeal for Falun Dafa. He was reported to higher up police officials and sentenced to three years of forced labour, but the sentence was not approved. The police confiscated a total of 31,000 Yuan from him by freezing his bank account and illegally withdrawing 26,000 Yuan for supposed expenses associated with arresting the practitioners. The police also extorted 5,000 Yuan for bail.

At the beginning of April 2000, three practitioners, including Ms. Wei Shuiqin and Ms. Pu Lihua unfurled a banner saying, "Falun Dafa is good" in Tiananmen Square. After they were arrested and taken back to Pucheng, the two of them were illegally sentenced to four years of imprisonment. The other practitioner was released after being illegally detained and extorted over 8,000 Yuan.

At the end of April 2000, the police arrested Ye Shuiqin from his home and cruelly tortured him to obtain a confession, charging him with "congregating illegally" and sentencing him to six years. (With the escalation of the persecution, if four or more practitioners get together, the police can detain and interrogate them.)

In October 2000, an elderly practitioner named Ms. Wu Wenying was followed by police while distributing truth-clarifying materials. She was arrested, severely tortured and then sentenced to three years of imprisonment.

In June 2001, practitioner Ms. Fang Zhongsun was sentenced to seven years for photocopying truth-clarifying materials, and was severely tortured.

In February 2003, police forcefully body searched a practitioner. Since this practitioner had a copy of "Zhuan Falun" [the main text of Falun Dafa], he/she was viciously beaten by police and was tortured to obtain a confession. This practitioner was detained for one month.

In mid-May 2003, several practitioners' homes were illegally searched and they were detained for posting flyers saying, "Falun Dafa is good." The police also implicated and arrested several practitioners because they were associated with other practitioners. During the illegal interrogation, the police beat a practitioner on the spot until he lost consciousness. Afraid of shouldering the responsibility, they called her husband to come to the hospital where she lay in an emergency room. The police illegally extorted 3,000 Yuan from other practitioners.

All the practitioners who had been illegally detained received inhumane treatment. They were not allowed to sleep or go to a washroom for three days and nights. They had to stand on their bare feet, with their hands over their heads. They were forced to reveal the location that truth-clarifying materials were produced and report on fellow practitioners. If they did not submit, they were beaten up. They were also forced to write guarantee letters. If they refused to write the letter, they would be illegally sentenced to prison or a forced labour camp or be fined. One of the most appalling abuses against a practitioner was when a police officer forced a practitioner to jump from a building.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2003/7/6/53575.html