Jiang Zemin Orders a 74-Year-Old War Hero To Be Jailed for 21 Years for Practising Falun Gong

Yu Changxin, a retired professor in the Air Force Commander's College, is 74 years old, holds a deputy army commander level position in the Air Force, with a division commander rank. He was one of the earliest pilots trained by the Chinese Army. He flew more than 30 years, logging about 2000 flying hours. During the past several decades prior to his arrest, he contributed a great deal to the theories of pilot training and flying, and was awarded a Second Class Merit. During the War for the Liberation of China (1946-1949), he took part in two out of four famous battles. Throughout his long career he has made valuable contributions to his country.

In June of 1992, Yu and his wife started to practise Falun Gong in order to improve their health. They learned that Falun Gong is not only a series of exercises, but a way to cultivate Xinxing (heart-mind nature, moral character). Through cultivating the heart the practitioner becomes benevolent, and a person of the highest virtue. They were overjoyed.

Not long after he started practising, great changes occurred. He used to have high blood pressure, heart disease, and stomach trouble. He used to take many medicines everyday. After starting Falun Gong, he became healthier with each passing day. He became very energetic, with a sharp mind. He even walked quickly. When he was almost 70 years old, people said he looked like he was 50 to 60 years old.

Around that time, he helped with publishing the two books China Falun Gong, and Zhuan Falun. People respected him because he always thought of others first, and was very compassionate to everyone. When Jiang Zemin's police tried to find fault with him by interviewing people who knew him, everyone said that he was indeed a very good person. Their underhanded attempt to defame Yu backfired on them, and in fact made people find out the truth. They could see clearly how vicious Jiang Zemin is.

Mr. Yu lost his freedom on April 25th, 1999 [the date that approximately 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners assembled peacefully outside the Appeal Office next to Zhongnanhai and asked to present their case to the government.] The Air Force Commander's College watched over him. The college officials at all levels took turns talking with him. They forced him to make a choice: "The Party or Falun Gong?" He said firmly, "I choose Falun Gong!" On the evening of July 1st, 1999, two people came to his house suddenly, and took him away under false pretences. He has been illegally detained ever since.

In fact, Jiang Zemin planned and directed the whole process of persecuting Mr. Yu. He ordered the formation of a "Special Case Group" of over 30 people drawn from the General Political Department, the Air Force, and the Air Force Commander's College, whose sole business was planning the persecution of Mr. Yu. Right after he was arrested, they first forced him to watch their fabricated videos that slander Teacher Li. Next, they tried every method in order to force him to "confess." Jiang Zemin was simply abusing his political power, using it to give vent to his hatred, and to slander as he pleased. They defamed Mr. Yu, claiming that he had made 1 million Yuan [average monthly pay for an urban worker is 500 Yuan] through his publishing of Dafa books. He replied, "We Dafa cultivators do not pursue fame or profit. We only cultivate our hearts and improve our virtue. We serve others voluntarily. That is why I did not make one single cent from these publications." The Special Case Group made a large-scale and thorough investigation, only in the end to affirm what Mr. Yu had said.
Jiang Zemin and his regime also tried to force him to "confess" about having joined the April 25th, 1999 event. Mr. Yu said, "The practitioners of Falun Gong were simply reporting what had happened to the country's leaders, which is not wrong. But in fact I was busy doing other things, and could not be there." They did not believe him, and tried to extort confessions from him. They surrounded him, shouted at him, cursed him, deprived him of sleep, and day and night demanded that he write "confessions." Mr. Yu could not eat, and his legs and feet became swollen. Finally, after a huge investigation, they once again proved that what he said was true.

Originally, the Air Force took into account Mr. Yu's life long service to China and their investigation concluded that his "error" was not severe, and did not deserve a severe punishment. Just when the Air Force was about to settle his case, Jiang Zemin suddenly ordered that Yu be sentenced to 21 years in prison. At this time the Air Force court found itself in an awkward predicament. They sent the entire file to the Highest Procuratorial Ministry and the Supreme Court, and asked for their feedback. We heard that they replied: "We do not care what you do with this case. But we do have to follow whatever the upper levels say." The Air Force still felt uneasy. They thought that Mr. Yu was not one of the core members of the Falun Gong Research Association, and had not committed any specific crimes. So they found some excuses to reduce his sentence by four years, and condemned him to "only" 17 years in prison.

After this decision was made, on January 6th, 2000, in a corner of the Air Force Detention Centre, 30-40 people gathered under tight security, and secretly sentenced Mr. Yu to 17 years. This is a huge miscarriage of justice! They knew themselves that they were in the wrong, and so met in secret, fearing very much that the truth of what they were doing might be revealed.

Mr. Yu is 74 years old now, and is still jailed in the Air Force Prison. All sorts of base means are used to try to force him to give up cultivation. He is strictly watched, and not allowed to study the Fa or do the exercises. Attempts to brainwash him with materials slandering Dafa continue, and he is forced to listen to admonitory talks. Mr. Yu's home was searched twice after he was arrested. Each time more than 10 people came to ransack the house, going through every single nook and cranny. On March 19, 2000, they suddenly drove his wife out of her long time home and off of the Air Force Commander's College campus.

Source: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/12/29/17254.html