Practitioners Ms. Wang Caiqin and Ms. Cao Airong from Gansu Province Unjustly Sentenced to Prison

Ms. Wang Caiqin is a 44-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Dazhuangziran Village near Qingyang City, Gansu Province. She is a farmer. She started practising Falun Gong in October 1996. In October 2000 she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The police arrested her and transferred her back to Qingyang City, where she was detained in the Xifeng District Detention Centre for a month. After she was released for about five days, the police arrested her again and detained her for about 40 days.

In 2001 Ms. Wang was sentenced to one year in the Gansu Province No. 2 Forced Labour Camp, where she was subjected to every imaginable type of torture. After she returned home in 2002, two policemen frequently went to Ms. Wang's home to harass and threaten her. In fact, they ransacked her home almost once a month. In July 2003 alone, they ransacked her home twice. In that month, they also took her to Xifeng District's National Security Division, where a policeman named Ren Huaixian kicked and beat Ms. Wang. He used both threats and incentives in an attempt to find out which Falun Gong practitioners were responsible for producing the VCDs exposing the persecution, but Ms. Wang refused to tell him anything. Finally, he extorted 200 yuan¹from her as a "fine."

In May 2004, police officer Zhang Xinmin from the Dongzhi Town Police Station went to Ms. Wang Caiqin's home and cursed Falun Gong in front of her husband. He told her husband to stop her from practising Falun Gong and from talking about Falun Gong to people. He told her husband to give her a good beating to attain those goals. As a result, her husband became boisterous. He started beating and cursing Ms. Wang until he broke two of her ribs.

In October 2004, a few Falun Dafa practitioners gathered together. That night six police cars from the Dongzhi Town Police Station and the Xifeng District Public Security Bureau's Detective Team surrounded Ms. Cao Liping's home. More than 20 officers climbed the walls and got into the house to arrest the practitioners. Police officer Ma Zhonghong grabbed a manure shovel and brutally beat practitioners with it. The entire courtyard was enveloped with dust due to the severe beating.

The beating caused a large tear in the back of Ms. Wang Caiqin's jacket. Ms. Cao Liping's 15-year-old child was so terrified by the horrific scene that he passed out and went into a coma. It was not until then that the policemen finally stopped the beating. Ms. Cao Liping's husband angrily reprimanded the policemen, "You are outlaws and villains! Bring my child back to me!" The policemen took a long time to discuss what to do before they finally took Ms. Cao Liping and her child to the hospital for emergency resuscitation. The child regained consciousness only after the IV infusion of a large bottle of medication was almost completed.

That night the police took the nine practitioners to the local police station. After booking and processing the practitioners, the police ransacked their homes and extorted 200 yuan in "fines" from each of them. From Ms. Wang Caiqin's home, the police confiscated Dafa materials. They searched the roof and damaged it during the process. They left nothing unturned. They even examined the waste paper from her little daughter's backpack for school. After the police ransacked her home, they took Ms. Wang Caiqin back to the station again and interrogated her in an attempt to find out who produced the materials and who organised the activities to expose the persecution. Ms. Wang refused to betray any fellow practitioner, so police officer Ren Huaixian slapped her face with a broom until the broom broke. Then he grabbed things nearby and used them to hit her face. He also kicked at Ms. Wang's face until her face became frighteningly swollen and covered with nicks and cuts. Her body was also full of injuries and bruises. Ms. Wang Caiqin told the police, "Falun Dafa is grand and magnificent. I will die from your torture before I betray my fellow practitioners." The police ran out of tactics, so they finally stopped. They transferred Ms. Wang to the Xifeng District Detention Centre the next day. On August 10th 2005, Xifeng District People's Court in Qingyang City, Gansu Province, sentenced Ms. Wang Caiqin to four years in prison for studying Falun Gong's books and practising the Falun Gong exercises with fellow practitioners and for distributing materials that contain important facts about Falun Gong. She is now illegally imprisoned in the Xifeng District Detention Centre.

Ms. Cao Airong is 41 years old. She lives in Dazhuangziran Village, near Qingyang City, Gansu Province. She is a local farmer that started practising Falun Gong in 1997. In 2000, she was subjected to illegal punishment twice because she was determined in practising Falun Gong. On the evening of October 30th 2004, the police arrested her while she was at the home of local practitioner Ms. Cao Liping. That night the police confiscated six Falun Gong banners, 42 Falun Gong books and leaflets exposing the persecution. On January 25th 2005, the Xifeng District Public Security in Qingyang City arrested and detained Ms. Cao. On February 5th 2005, she was released on bail awaiting a court trial. On August 1st 2005, the Xifeng District People's Court in Qingyang City, Gansu Province, sentenced Ms. Cao to two years in prison for studying Falun Gong's books and practising Falun Gong exercises with fellow practitioners and for distributing materials that contain important facts about Falun Gong. She is now imprisoned in the Xifeng District Detention Centre.

Note

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/9/10/110146.html