Ms. Yang Zhongfang Beaten to Death; Dozens of People Hold Sit-in Protest in front of City Government

Dafa practitioner Ms. Yang Zhongfang was 37 years old when officers from the Jiangong Police Station in Yanji City beat her to death overnight.

Yang Zhongfang was originally from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. She had a deli business at the Xiyuan Market near the Yanxi Street Brick Factory in Yanji City. Because she was a warm and conscientious person, her business was very good. The people living nearby loved her food. Ms. Yang Zhongfang also did lots of good things for the market, but she was persecuted for her belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.

At 6:00 a.m. on July 1, 2002, officers from the Jiangong Police Station surrounded Yang Zhongfang's home, and they arrested her, her husband, son and daughter who are non-practitioners. People learned the next day that she was beaten to death.

When the market opened, many people gathered and talked about the death of Yang Zhongfang. They couldn't believe it, because she was alive the night before when the market closed.

Many people cried and they wanted to see Yang Zhongfang one last time, because she was very popular among friends, neighbours and the businesses at the Xiyuan Market. When Yang Zhongfang's family and many other people arrived, the body had already been sent to a crematorium, and her internal organs were removed for autopsy. When the test results finally came out, the officials claimed Yang Zhongfang died from "more than a dozen acute illnesses." People waited a long time for the result that was an outrageous lie. They all knew Yang Zhongfang had not taken a single dose of medicine since she began practising Falun Gong in 1998, that she was healthy and her annual physical exam always showed she had no illness. With no other choice, the grieving people went to appeal to the government.

The Xiyuan Market was closed for a few days because so many business owners had gone to appeal. Yang Zhongfang's son and daughter held a banner that read, "police beat my mother to death; restore my mother's reputation" as they quietly sat in front of the Yanji City government and the Yanbian Regional Party Committee. About 50 of Yang Zhongfang's family and friends, neighbours and other business owner that knew her joined the sitting protest. The weather is stifling hot in July, and why would they sacrifice several days' business to protest? They did it to uphold the truth and their conscience. They persisted day after day and would not give up. Later, government officials began to avoid them and even arrested some protesters. They also threatened that they would arrest whoever continued to protest. As September 3 drew near, the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Korean Ethnic Group Autonomous Region, higher level government officials dispatched people to put on shows for celebration. The local officials were afraid of the protesters and gave Yang Zhongfang's family 50,000 Yuan as compensation.

On the day of the cremation, Yang Zhongfang's husband bowed to Yang Zhongfang's picture and said, "You died a magnificent death!" Yang Zhongfang died because she clarified the truth about Dafa.

There was a picture of Yang Zhongfang's body that shows her body covered with bruises and even her face was deformed.

The people responsible include:

Yu Minghuan: instructor at the Jiangong Police Department, Yanji City, 86-433-2824004(office), 86-433-2754022 (home), 86-13844335577(mobile)

Cui Songguo: head of Jiangong Police Department, Yanji City, 86-433-2834145(office), 86-433-2857752(home), 86-13904435380 (mobile)

Li Dongzhu: deputy head of Yanji City Police Department in charge of persecuting Falun Gong, 86-433-2514600(office), 86-433-2525232(home), 86-13804487858 (mobile)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/2/26/68544.html