There are two police officers in my hometown, the chief and the deputy chief of the local police station, Officer Sun Jihong and Officer Shang Xiping. After they began practising Falun Gong, they got rid of many bad behaviour typically seen in today's police force in Mainland China and became honest and kind. Since the onset of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong, both of them suffered severe persecution. Beijing police officers beat Sun Jihong to death. His wife, Yuan Hezhen, was tortured to death. It was recently learned that Shang Xiping has been "illegally sentenced1" to ten years in prison in Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province.
1. Sun Jihong
Practitioner Sun Jihong, age 40, was the former police station chief for the Forestry Bureau in Huanan County. Because he was persistent in his belief of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," the authorities arrested and detained him numerous times. Before Mr. Sun began practising Falun Gong he had a problematic personality. He often drank excessively and looked for fights. When on police duty, he often beat people for no reason. Because he had some knowledge of Kung Fu, local vagabonds were afraid of him. After he started practising Falun Gong he changed himself and got rid of these bad habits.
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| Officer Sun Jihong and his family in happier times prior to the persecution |
Mr. Sun had appealed many times for justice for Falun Gong ever since the persecution began in 1999 and was arrested many times as well. He decided to leave home on January 7th, 2001, to escape the persecution. On February 4th, 2002, Mr. Sun went to Tiananmen Square and unfurled a banner with the words, "Falun Dafa is Good." Later, the Tiananmen Square police took him away and detained him at the Tiananmen Square Police Station. He told the arresting police that the "self-immolation incident" was a plot directed by the authorities. The policeman said that even if the authorities had directed the incident, it would be advantageous for CCP rule. Mr. Sun miraculously walked out of detention later on.
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| Mr. Sun Jihong (right) appeals for justice for Falun Gong at Tiananmen Square on February 4th, 2002 |
Someone betrayed Mr. Sun, leading to his arrest on the night of May 10th, 2002. Policemen arrested him at his rented apartment and ransacked his place. Having been brought to a detention centre, he remained determined and firmly resisted the persecution. He undertook a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Guards tried to force-feed him and to make him suffer in the process, but the liquid just wouldn't go in.
The Beijing police originally wanted to send Mr. Sun to a forced labour camp in Beijing, but when they saw that he refused to give in no matter what they did, the police had to let the local police take him back. Mr. Sun didn't want to be taken away by the local police. On their way back, he jumped off the train, even though it was extremely dangerous.
On September 25th, 2002, around 6:00 p.m., Mr. Sun was changing his ride at the Yuquanying Highway, Fengtai District, Beijing. The Fengtai police arrested him there. They conducted a torture-style investigation, and on the fourth day after his arrest, September 29th, 2002, Sun Jihong was tortured to death.
A policeman said, "He was at death's door from the beating, but he still said, 'Dafa is good.'" They secretly admired this practitioner's determination in his belief.
When his family came to see the body, they couldn't even identify him. The Beijing police had to clean the bloodstains off his face, so the family was able to identify him. The family found him almost too horrible to lay eyes on. His head was so swollen that it was no longer the right shape. There was a hole between his eyebrows. There were six round holes on his face; two of them near one of his cheeks. Some holes looked like cigarette burns. There was a mass of lacerations and bruises all over his body from severe beating. The police was afraid of being sued by the family and had to compensate the family over 10,000 yuan2. They forbade photographing the remains and cremated the body quickly. The authorities strictly blocked the information regarding Mr. Sun's death. His body was cremated against the family's wishes on October 2nd, 2002.
Sun Jihong's wife, Ms. Yuan Hezhen, is the former director of the Forestry Bureau Savings Bank in Huanan County. She accompanied her husband to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. She also has been arrested many times. On New Year's Day 2002 Ms. Yuan walked onto Tiananmen Square to appeal. The police arrested her. She later broke free after holding a hunger strike. In May 2002 the authorities arrested her again in Beijing and took her to a detention centre where the guards beat her severely. They handcuffed her arms behind her back3, force-fed her, and used many other tortures on her. Ms. Yuan started to spit blood and had blood in her stools. She was extremely weak. When the detention centre officials realised that her health was deteriorating quickly, they released her. She had suffered severe physical persecution during detention. In order to avoid re-arrest, she became homeless. There wasn't a safe or peaceful environment available for her to recover. In addition to that, she learned that her husband had been beaten to death. Ms. Yuan Hezhen's health continued to deteriorate and she died in July 2003.
Mr. Sun's mother-in-law, Ms. Jia Guilan, age 69, saw that her daughter and son-in-law had died in such a tragic manner. No one in authority listened to her plea. The elderly Ms. Jia went through extreme emotional pain and died on March 3rd, 2005.
Mr. Sun Jihong and Ms. Yuan Hezhen left behind a 14-year-old daughter. Her paternal grandmother is taking care of her now.
It has been three years since Mr. Sun and Ms. Yuan were persecuted to death. Mr. Sun's mother, who is near 70 years old, still can't accept the fact that her beloved son has died. Despite the injustice of her son and daughter-in-law's deaths, the authorities refuse to listen to her. She has been in mourning ever since.
2. Shang Xiping
Practitioner Mr. Shang Xiping, age 40, is the former employee of the Forestry Region Police Department, Huanan County, Heilongjing Province. He was the deputy chief and the third-class police superintendent. Before practising Falun Gong, he drank, over-ate, had extra marital affairs, and had a fit of temper whenever things didn't go his way. Because of societal influences and CCP propaganda, Mr. Shang developed bad habits at work. He was a big bully, was greedy, and he extorted money from people. He was cold and rude at work. In order to gain more commission, he extorted money whenever he could and imposed sky-high fines. He beat people at will.
Shang Xiping originally connected with Falun Gong for a bad reason. He had heard that Falun Gong promoted "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and could really change a person. He bought a copy of Zhuan Falun4 for his wife, so that she would exert less control over him. But after his wife began cultivation, he really saw that his wife changed for the good. Then he himself started to read Zhuan Falun , and he too, changed.
After Mr. Shang began practising Falun Dafa, he completely got rid of his bad habits. He stopped beating people. At work, he never took advantage of others anymore, nor did he accept any bribes. He stopped fighting with others for fame and money. He also gave up the idea of having affairs. He self-disciplined himself to do better and better, and eventually developed an excellent reputation.
Since JiangZemin's regime started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999, Mr. Shang has been detained six times. His wife, Ms. Cheng Shujie, was detained four times. Law enforcement personnel cheated his family out of or took by force close to 30,000 yuan. The husband and wife were both fired from their government jobs. The only reason they suffered such persecution was that they did not want to betray their conscience. They insisted on saying, "Falun Dafa is good," "Falun Dafa is a righteous cultivation way," and "Falun Dafa is treated unjustly."
Mr. Shang, his wife, and others, seven practitioners in all, went to Beijing on February 7th, 2000, to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. The police arrested them and sent them to the local police station. Cited with "hindering police business," they were detained for 66 days. During their detention, the guards handcuffed Mr. Shang with his arms behind his back and tied him up with a rope. Sometimes they chained both his hands and feet. On his release, the detention centre officials demanded over 6,000 yuan from him for the cost of food and bail. Mr. Shang didn't have any income then. When he still worked, his salary was only 300-400 yuan. They had to borrow money to post bail.
Mr. Shang didn't get any freedom following his release. Instead, he was monitored and followed for a long time. His phone was tapped. He was required to go to the police station to sign in every day. The police often harassed him at home. He had completely lost his freedom. Faced with these conditions, Shang Xiping decided to leave home to avoid further persecution.
On November 20th, 2001, when Mr. Shang was eating at a restaurant in Beijing, Dewai Police Station agents arrested him. The Dewai police located his records via computer. They found that his personnel file had been altered, stating he had been dismissed from police duty in 1995. However, his police ID was issued in 1997. In actuality, those in charge had dismissed Shang Xiping from work in December 1999 because he practised Falun Gong. He was later locked up in Xicheng Detention Centre in Beijing, where the infamous murderer Fu Yishan, involved in a Beijing murder case, was confined. They were jailed in the same cell. Mr. Shang saw that Fu was psychotic. Everyone there knew that. On December 15th, 2001, local police escorted Shang Xiping back to Huanan County, Heilongjiang Province. Before the police departed for Beijing they extorted 1,500 yuan from Mr. Shang's parents.
As soon as they arrived in Huanan, Mr. Shang was delivered to a hospital for further persecution. They tied a pole to his shoulders5 and conducted force-feeding. They chained his feet. The chains weren't removed until June 4th, 2002, when he was sent to a forced labour camp. The authorities forced, threatened, and intimidated Mr. Shang's family, who were deceived into helping to pin him down, tie him up, and inject him with unknown drugs. Four guards took turns watching Mr. Shang 24 hours a day. When he was close to death they still wouldn't let him go. Instead, they got a bunch of collaborators6 to attempt to brainwash him. All the torture caused Mr. Shang to twitch and lose consciousness. After a 32-day hunger strike, Shang Xiping began to eat. At that point, the lawless officers sentenced him one year and six months of forced labour. Because he was extremely weak, the labour camp refused to take him. The perpetrators then tried to extort money from his wife, who had already been released. They used coercion, threats, intimidation, and deception. The family didn't have any money. The authorities took 2,000 yuan from Mr. Shang's withheld salary. They used that money to bribe the labour camp to accept him.
Mr. Shang Xiping was sent to Jiamusi Forced Labour Camp. According to eyewitnesses, team leader Liu Hongguang in the labour camp instructed guards to pin Mr. Shang Xiping down on the floor. Then several guards surrounded and kicked him. Mr. Shang's face was disfigured from being kicked. He was released later, but because he still refused to renounce Falun Gong, the authorities continued to detain him for an unlimited time.
After his eventual release, Mr. Shang Xiping and his wife, Ms. Cheng Shujie, started a fruit stand business to make a living. On September 30th, 2004, five to six policemen charged in and arrested and detained the couple. On March 28th, 2005, a court sentenced them. On that day, the court resumed the hearing for the third time. More than 20 fully armed policemen arrived at court. The courtroom was heavily guarded. The court couldn't make a decision to sentence the couple, so they asked for instructions from Heilongjiang Province Forestry Industry Bureau. The Forestry Industry Bureau didn't have any legal evidence of any crime, but the court nonetheless sentenced Mr. Shang Xiping to four years in prison, and his wife, Ms. Cheng Shujie, to one year.
Mr. Shang's appeal was dismissed. The judgement was upheld. Even more ridiculous, when Ms. Cheng Shujie's family refused to accept the verdict and went to a related agency for more information, the response was: "Who let her be the wife of Mr. Shang Xiping?"
Mr. Shang walked out of the detention on May 17th, 2005.
He was arrested again on September 7th, 2005. Guo Junlin from the National Security Section of the Forestry Bureau had planned to meet him, but it didn't work out. Officials transferred Mr. Shang from Hegang City Second Detention Centre to Hegang City First Detention Centre. While he was in detention, the guards tortured him brutally in order to get information out of him. They shattered his knee caps. Recently, it was reported that he was sentenced to ten years, the longest time for any Falun Gong practitioners working in the Forestry Bureau, Huanan County.
Various official CCP positions in many places of Northern China are for sale if one has enough money. Several years ago, people were actually discussing the local prices: a police station chief's position could be bought for more than 100,000 yuan; 500,000 yuan for a police department chief's position. In Northern China, many police department chiefs are good friends with local gang figures.
In such an environment, Falun Dafa helped the two police officers get rid of their bad behaviour, and to be good policemen. Under the CCP's regime, however, there is no room for them. Instead, they became targets of the vicious persecution.
Note
1. Illegally arrested: Contrary to what former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, who initiated the persecution, and the Chinese Communist Party would like the world to believe, practising Falun Gong is NOT illegal in China. Although the Public Security Department issued an unconstitutional set of restraints on the practice at the onset of the persecution in 1999, no laws have been passed by the only legislative body in China, the People's Congress, banning Falun Gong or granting the police the authority to arrest Falun Gong practitioners for practising the exercises or distributing flyers. For a more complete discussion of the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong, please refer to the article "The Ban on Falun Gong—A Dictator's Whim, Not the Rule of Law". (Variation: "illegally sentenced")
2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.
3. The practitioners are handcuffed with their arms behind their backs and then to heating pipes so that they can neither sit nor squat. Practitioners have often been handcuffed like this for long periods of time. They can't stand straight or squat, and have to have somebody feed them.
4. Zhuan Falun: This book comprises the principal teachings of Falun Dafa.
5. In this torture, a long pole is placed horizontally across the back of the practitioner's shoulders and the arms are stretched out and bound to the pole. The practitioner is then forced to lie on the floor, facing up. The eyes must remain open. If even one eye closes, the police brutally strike the practitioner's forehead.
6. "Collaborators": Former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/9/8/137358.html
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