Mr. Liu Zenglin, in His Seventies, of Hebei Province Dies as a Result of Torture

Mr. Liu Zenglin, who was over 70 years old, lived in Yuxiaozi Village, Gucheng County, Hebei Province. After being subjected to persecution, including being arrested and sentenced to a forced labour camp, he passed away on February 9th, 2008.

Mr. Liu previously was a village official. After he began practising Falun Gong, he experienced improvements in his health and state of mind. He followed the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" in all respects and was eager to help others. He was generally acknowledged by the villagers as being a good person.

In June 2004, when he was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong, he was reported to police by someone who had been deceived the Communist regime's propaganda. Shao Li (male) led officers of the Domestic Security Division in Gucheng County Police Department who took him into custody and detained him at the Gucheng County Detention Centre. There, they tried to force him to write a statement renouncing Falun Gong, but Mr. Liu refused to do so. Consequently, he was brutally tortured until he displayed symptoms of a stroke, he could no longer take care of himself, and he could not walk without other people's support. Prior to being detained he had no health problems.

After being detained for over six months, the authorities from the Gucheng County Police Department and the 610 Office¹ colluded with authorities from the local court and sentenced Mr. Liu to five years of imprisonment. He was taken to the Hengshui City Prison, which refused to accept him because of his poor health condition. He was brought back to the Gucheng County Detention Centre.
Shao Li and other officers of the 610 Office, together with Li Zhifeng (male), and other guards at the detention centre, bribed authorities from the Tangshan City Forced Labour Camp into accepting Mr. Liu, who was then paralysed and over 70 years old.

After enduring two years of brutal persecution in the labour camp, Mr. Liu became extremely weak and emaciated. To avoid taking any responsibility for Mr. Liu's condition, the authorities at the labour camp released him for medical treatment in December 2006.

When Mr. Liu returned home, he was very weak, could not eat, and coughed terribly every day. In September 2007, the authorities from the Tangshan Forced Labour Camp dispatched three guards to Mr. Liu's home, intending to take him back to the labour camp for further mistreatment. His family and other village cadres vigorously opposed. When the guards realised that Mr. Liu was ill and near the end of his life, they reluctantly relinquished their mission and left. After being tortured both mentally and physically, Mr. Liu died an unjust death on February 9th, 2008.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/2/26/173156.html