Falun Gong Practitioners Huo Yinggui from Fushun City and Chen Sizhong from Qidong City Die after Long-term Persecution

Falun Gong practitioner Huo Yingui

Ms. Huo Yinggui, 53, was from Kangjiabao Village, Nankouqian Township, Qingyuan County, Fushun City. She was persecuted because she practised Falun Gong. She lived under long-term fear and passed away on July 8th, 2008.

Ms. Huo began to practise Falun Gong in 1997 and benefited greatly both mentally and physically from the practice. Her rheumatoid arthritis disappeared. She went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in October 1999, and was brought back by police on October 30th, 1999 to Qingyuan County Detention Centre in Fushun City. She was later sentenced to one and a half years in a labour camp. At Qingyuan Detention Centre, Fushun Wujiabao Correction Centre, and Shenyang Masanjia Labour Camp, Ms. Huo suffered brutal torture. When she was released home, she was continually harassed by local officials, and lived in constant fear.

On April 14th, 2005, when the Fushun City Public Security Bureau, along with the village party chief came to arrest Ms. Huo, she narrowly escaped with the help of a kind person. The perpetrators took her husband instead and held him for more than 40 days in Fushun Luotaishanzhuang. Ms. Huo had been homeless and destitute since then to avoid further persecution. Her home and farm were deserted.

Huo Yinggui lived in the city after she left home. She was traumatized to such an extent that the sight of a police car or sound of siren would fill her with fear. Under such pressure, she could not eat and began to lose weight. In 2007, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and died on July 8th, 2008.

Former Deputy Director of Qidong City Industrial Construction Bureau Chen Sizhong

Mr. Chen Sizhong, 60, lived in Jiangongxincun, Qidong City, Jiangsu Province. He was a military officer; and after his discharge, he took a position at the Qidong Industrial Construction Bureau. He began practising Falun Gong in July 1996 and was a volunteer instructor.

Mr. Chen had numerous illnesses before he practised Falun Gong. Each hospitalization cost him tens of thousands of yuan¹. After he began to cultivate Falun Gong, he gave up alcohol and cigarettes and strictly abided by the principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. His illnesses soon disappeared; even the reading glasses he had worn for a long time were no longer needed. His hot temper was gone too, and he became patient, modest, and was praised by those who knew him.

After the persecution started in July 1999, the Qidong 610 Office² came to "talk" with him. They attempted to force Mr. Chen to stop practising Falun Gong and tried to use his popularity and prestige to slander Falun Gong. They taped a conversation and planned to broadcast it to the city.

Mr. Chen seized this moment to explain the facts about Falun Gong to the persecutors. He talked for over an hour; and the 610 Office officials said they could not debate with him. They did not broadcast the conversation and released him. When Mr. Chen returned home, he wrote a letter to the central government and expressed his opinion about cultivation. He hoped that the central government would respect public opinion and allow people to practise Falun Gong.

After the persecution began, it was claimed that the wife of Qidong Water Bureau staffer Lu Xingchong "committed suicide." The 610 Office made a big issue of the event, and used it as "evidence" to implicate Falun Gong. They arranged for Lu Xingchong to testify before the United Nation's Human Rights Conference slandering Falun Gong, and creating negative views of Falun Gong. The sister and mother of the "suicide" victim went to the Central TV station to explain the facts about Falun Gong, but were kicked out. In order to defend Falun Gong, Mr. Chen wrote a letter to Lu Xingchong to persuade him not to gain at other's expense. The central 610 Office director Li Lanqing ordered an investigation into who wrote the letter, and Mr. Chen was sentenced to a labour camp.

Upon his release, Mr. Chen was harassed and monitored on a long-term basis by the Public Security Bureau. Under tremendous pressure, he passed away in November 2007.

Perpetrators:

Qidong City Party secretary: Shen Zhenxin
Qidong City Political Legal Committee Secretary: Gu Linzhong
Qidong City 610 Office Director: Gong Yuchun, Hua Wei(former director)
Qidong City 610 Office Vice-director: Xu Shichong, Huang Bingsheng (former), staff: Cao Dong
Qidong Public Security Bureau: Director Liu Yiyin
Qidong National Security Battalion director: Lu Binghui
Qidong Detention Centre director: Shi Hongxin

Note

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

2. "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.org/mh/articles/20088/14/183968.html