Writer From the Hebei Province Writers' Guild Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Practising Falun Gong

Falun Dafa practitioner Zhao Lishan is a writer and member of the Hebei Province Writers Guild. He was also the Assistant Editor for the magazine "Dang Dai Ren" (meaning "Modern Person"). A photo showing Zhao Lishan reading the Falun Dafa book Zhuan Falun was published in the 3rd issue of "Dang Dai Ren" in 1999. After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20 1999, the Dongjiao Police Station in Shijiazhuang City abducted Zhao Lishan when he was out distributing information and clarifying the facts about the persecution of Falun Dafa. Later, keeping a righteous mind, he escaped from the detention centre. After that, he was forced to live away from home for a period of time to avoid capture.

On the evening on September 28 2001, deputies from the Shijiazhuang "610 Office"* abducted Zhao Lishan again from his residence. Police at Xinhua Police Sub-Station in Shijiazhuang City tried using interrogation and physical torture to make him reveal his daily activities. Lishan was detained at the Second Detention Centre in Shijiazhuang City. On September 9 2002, he and eight other Dafa practitioners were convicted in a cursory show trial at the Qiaoxi District Court in Shijiazhuang City, making a mockery of the legal institution. Lishan was outrageously sentenced to ten years in prison. Because of his prolonged detention at the Second Detention Centre and the maltreatment he received there, his body was covered with scabies. When the police attempted to transfer him to a prison, all of the local prisons refused to accept him. In July of this year, under pressure and coercion from the "610 Office," Hebei Province First Prison in Baoding City admitted Zhao Lishan despite his poor physical health.

*The 610 Office is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political or judicial systems.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/3/9/46104.html