Update on Falun Dafa Practitioners from Helongjiang Province Suffering from Persecution

The following is an update on the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners from Fuyu County in Heilongjiang Province. Ms. Zeng Fenglian was tortured so severely that she can no longer walk. Mr. Xu Guoxiang was arrested when looking for work out of town. Without him, his wife and son are living a difficult life. Ms. Lu Guizheng has been persecuted. She and her family's whereabouts have been unknown for nearly three years. Mr. Zhai Yuzhu was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison. His elderly father has been waiting for his return. Ms. Gao Yajuan and Ms. Liu Guirong were both arrested and sentenced to a forced labour camp. They are currently detained in the Qi City Shuanghe Forced Labour Camp where they are being tortured. Due to the information blockade, other detailed information is unknown.

1. Ms. Zeng Fenglian Tortured and Unable to Walk

On November 8th 2003, practitioner Ms. Zeng Fenglian, about 50, was arrested by police officers from the Xinhualu Police Station in Fuyu County. Police officers threatened, beat and tried to terrify her in order to force her to admit her "crimes." When Ms. Zeng was detained at the Fuyu County Forced Labour Camp, police officers beat her and stuffed her under a bed. They kicked her in order to force her to move even further under the bed. Then they forced her to stand for a long time, beating, cursing and threatening her. They stepped on her toes one by one with their heels to force a confession from her. Ms. Zeng became very weak and developed symptoms of serious heart and stomach problems. As a result, she could not eat and only survived on IVs. When her family asked for permission to visit Ms. Zeng, the authorities from the forced labour camp lied to them and said that she was doing well. They reassured her family that what they heard were rumours. In addition, they drove her family away using the excuse that they had caused a disturbance. Meanwhile, Ms. Zeng had been held in the Fuyu Detention Centre for over eight months beyond her term.

At the end of August 2004, the Criminal Court from the Fuyu County Communist Party Court brought Ms. Zeng to trial. During this trial, Ms. Zeng was deprived of her right to defend herself. As to the three questionable points concerning her situation brought up by her lawyer, the court ignored all of them. It only allowed the prosecutor, Niu Yanhong, to talk. The court forced a sentence on Ms. Zeng for crimes she did not commit. Ms. Zeng was sentenced to eight years in prison. After that, she was secretly sent to the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison for further persecution.

In the Women's Prison, the guards deprived Zeng Fenglian of sleep, forced her to stand up for a long time, twisted her legs and verbally abused her. They also incited the inmates to torture Ms. Zeng and to monitor her all day. Every day they used loudspeakers to broadcast messages that defamed Falun Dafa. Zeng Fenglian suffered a great deal physically, and she was also mentally traumatised. When Ms. Zeng's family tried to obtain permission to visit her, a female police officer in charge of granting permission was extremely difficult to deal with.

Ms. Zeng was later transferred to the No. 2 Women's Prison for further persecution. Besides doing physical labour, she was subjected to forced brainwashing. They adopted various methods to try to force Ms. Zeng to renounce her belief.

Now, Ms. Zeng is no longer able to walk by herself. She needs other people's help to walk. In addition, in mid-November 2003, the Xinhualu Police Station in Fuyu County arrested Ms. Zeng's son, Zuo Chunxin, and detained him in the Fuyu Forced Labour Camp for three months. He suffered serious persecution in the camp and his family had to pay about 10,000 yuan¹to bail him out. He lost his job due to the arrest and is still unemployed.

2. Mr. Xu Guoxiang Arrested; His Wife and Family Having a Difficult Time

On May 23rd practitioner Mr. Xu Guoxiang went out of town to look for work. When passing through Haerbin Station and transferring to another train, police officers from the Haerbin Province Railway Police Station found Dafa CDs exposing the persecution and books in his luggage, so they arrested him. They held him for two months in the Xiangfang Detention Centre of the Haerbin Railway Station. Mr. Xu went on a hunger strike to protest his illegal detention, and demanded his unconditional release. He was tortured until he was emaciated, but he still had to perform hard labour.

Mr. Xu had a high fever and lost consciousness a few times, but he was forced to do hard labour after regaining consciousness. The prison doctor diagnosed him with pneumonia. When Mr. Xu's family went to visit him, they asked to bail him out for medical treatment, but were denied. Without notifying his family, the authorities sentenced Xu Guoxiang to two years of forced labour. He was sent to Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp of Haerbin Province for further persecution.

When he arrived at the Changlinzi Labour Camp, Mr. Xu's wife went to visit him. The guards did not allow her to see him. They asked her to write down words to defame Dafa. When she refused, she was not allowed to see him. Now Mr. Xu is in the No. 5 Group. Details of his current situation are unknown. His son goes to junior high school and his wife does some work to pay the school tuition and to bring in some financial support. They live a very difficult life.

3. Ms. Lu Guizheng Suffers from Persecution; She and Her Family's Whereabouts Have Been Unknown for Nearly Three Years

In the winter of 2000, police officers from the Erdaowan Police Station detained Ms. Lu Guizheng and twenty other practitioners in a local hotel. Practitioners of both sexes were forced to stay in one room for over seventy days. Ms. Lu's family has been harassed and threatened many times. Her husband was also taken into the police bureau where he was threatened and terrorised.

In mid-December 2003, police officers arrested practitioner Ms. Lu. In the police station, Chen Jianhua, director of the police station, and other police officers from the County Police Department, hit her on the head with rolled up cardboard and magazines. They violently kicked her legs and feet many times. As a result, Ms. Lu's legs and feet developed bruises and blisters, and she had difficulty walking. The next day, Ms. Lu managed to escape. She was forced to become homeless to avoid recapture and further persecution. Both she and her family's whereabouts are unknown.

4. Mr. Zhai Yuzhu Sentenced to Five Years

At about seven o'clock on December 4th 2003, someone reported practitioner Mr. Zhai Yuzhu to the police when he was handing out leaflets exposing the persecution in the Fuyu County ranch area. He was arrested and put in solitary confinement at the Ranch Police Station. He was stripped and taken outside in freezing weather. He was hit with a shovel handle until the handle broke. Mr. Zhai was then transferred secretly to the Qi City Sijiazi Detention Centre (Qi City Agricultural Exploitation Bureau). Two months later, without notifying him and his family, and without following any legal procedure, Zhai Yuzhu was sentenced to five years in prison and was taken to the Qi City Tailai Prison.

Mr. Zhai is still in prison and is being tortured. His elderly father has been deaf for many years and has no income. He depends on Mr. Zhai's married sister to provide him with financial support. The old man is looking forward to his son's return. Every time he runs into someone, he says, "Yuzhu will be back in a few days."

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/2005/9/22/110948.html