The Difficult Circumstances of the Family of Liu Dejun, a Falun Dafa Practitioner Who Was Tortured to Death

Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Liu Dejun, 51 years old, was a retiree from the customer department of the Xinglongtai Oil Refinery at Liaohe Oil Field of Panjin City in Liaoning Province. He was tortured to death at the Panjin City Detention Centre on July 11, 2003. He left behind his wife, Ji Hong, 30 years old, their 5-year-old son Liu Xinyu, and a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Liu Minghui.

Ms. Ji Hong does not have any income to sustain her and she is living at her parents' house with her two children.

On May 25, 2003, Panjin City Police Department Political Protection Unit Chief Zhou Laixing abducted Liu Dejun. He died on July 11 at the Panjin City Detention Centre.

In the early morning of May 30, 2001, Liu Dejun was meditating in the yard in front of his apartment when someone reported him to the police. Liaohe Oil Field Police Department officer Wang Youshan, leading a group of police officers, arrested Liu Dejun and searched his house. Afterwards Mr. Liu was taken to the Panjin City Forced Labour Camp. He was released after agreeing not to practise, under intense pressure.

Force, however, cannot change people's hearts. After Liu Dejun was released, he immediately resumed his practice of Falun Dafa. At 4 p.m. on July 30, 2002, Officer Wang Youshan, leading more than ten police officers with four police cars, attempted to abduct Mr. Liu again. They tried unsuccessfully to break through the door several times. Later they surrounded the entire building. There were police cars and police watching outside the building until 8 p.m. The next morning, Mr. Liu managed to leave undetected.

Since that day, Liu Dejun was unable to return to his home and was forced to live on the streets. After Mr. Liu escaped, Officer Wang Youshan and the other police officers were so angry that they stole his New Northern Model 125 motorbike, which was locked outside the building.

Since September 2002, Liu Dejun's pension was cut and later the heating and electric service to his home was also disconnected. Because of this, Mr. Liu's wife and children were forced to leave their home.

The perpetrators have used cruel methods against kindhearted Falun Dafa practitioners. For example, they have tracked practitioners down when they used their mobile telephones, they've tried to take practitioner's photos, and have stalked practitioners. Using these tactics, the police discovered the house that Mr. Liu had rented, and on May 25, 2003, the police arrested him there. During the arrest, police officers opened fire, and witnesses saw Mr. Liu fall with his motorbike. The police then charged into his home and took everything, leaving only the refrigerator and a bed. Nearly 10,000 yuan (1) in cash disappeared. They even took away the children's nappies from his house.

After he was abducted, Liu Dejun was illegally detained at the Panjin City Detention Centre. He initiated a hunger strike in protest. After six days, the authorities started to cruelly and violently force-feed him. This force-feeding process was not performed by doctors in the jail, but by ten or so criminal inmates. They forced Mr. Liu down and then held his nose. They used a very dirty triangular shaped piece of wood to wedge his mouth open, then they shoved a water bottle with the bottom cut off into his mouth and half filled the bottle with porridge. Using the bottle like a funnel, they held the end and squeezed the bottle, forcing the porridge into Mr. Liu's throat. This kind of force-feeding is extremely cruel and life-threatening. Due to the brutal nature of the scene, some inmates who were involved in the force-feeding started crying. They said, "We don't want to do this either, we were forced to. There's nothing we can do."

Liu Dejun was force-fed numerous times in this manner but the food would not go in. On June 2, he was taken to the Panjin Forced Labour Camp where he was force-fed once every two days. Around June 10, Mr. Liu went into shock and was taken to the People's First Hospital for emergency treatment. He stayed at the hospital for more than 20 days and was taken back to the labour camp and again jailed with the inmates. At the edge of life and death, the police announced that Mr. Liu was to be arrested again, saying it was because Mr. Liu wanted to expose the persecution brought upon him by Officer Wang Youshan, and alleging that Mr. Liu had overseas contacts. Liu Dejun was therefore returned to the detention centre on July 9, and was tortured to death on July 11.

Mr. Liu's wife said she once visited her husband at the People's First Hospital. At that time he was very weak. The Panjin City Police Department Political Protection Unit Chief Zhou Laixing wanted 20,000 yuan in cash from her for Mr. Liu's release, but since she did not have any money, they refused to release him.

On July 12, 2003, the Panjin City Detention Centre suddenly notified Mr. Liu's family that he was dead (Chief Han was the person in charge that day). Jing Chengsheng, the head of Panjin City Detention Centre, took Liu Dejun's wife to the Liaohe Oil Field office. When Mr. Liu's wife heard the shocking news, she was in great pain and did not know what to do. She called her father from a pay phone. When those passing by saw the state she was in, they asked her what was wrong. Mr. Liu's wife described to them the circumstances under which her husband was tortured to death. Jing Chengsheng was very scared and ordered his officers to drag Mr. Liu's wife away, to prevent her from telling others the truth about her husband's death. She was dragged away with such force that they bruised her arm badly, and there was heavy purple bruising on her arm for many days. The police later cremated Mr. Liu's body without his wife's permission.

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

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/9/25/84978.html