Mr. Dong Liantai's Family Persecuted After His Death as a Result of Torture

Dong Liantai, 45, was a farmer in Zhengjiu Village, Dancheng Town, Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. On June 24th, 2008, He Wei, the head of Zhaopaotun Village in Dancheng Town, reported to the police that Mr. Dong was a Falun Gong practitioner. Mr. Dong was then arrested, his home was ransacked, and he was sent to a forced labour camp. He was brutally tortured in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City and died on September 19th, eight days after he was sent home.

The day after Mr. Dong's death, some of his relatives went to look for He Wei in Zhaopaotun Village to explain the facts about Falun Gong and to tell him not to harm good people. He wasn't home, so they told his family about the situation.

When the Mr. Dong's relatives were about to leave the village, He Wei instigated villagers to stop them. He locked up one of Mr. Dong's family member's motorcycles and hid the key and then called the local police, accusing Mr. Dong's relatives going to his home to cause trouble. He Wei punched and kicked the nephew of Mr. Dong's wife and broke his mobile phone, then punched a niece. He also pointed at Mr. Dong's daughter and said, "Too few people have died in your family. More should die." He pointed at the rest of the family and said, "You are all Falun Gong practitioners and should be sent to prison, especially you!" He was pointing at Mr. Dong's daughter.

He kept swearing until the police came. They took the four members of Mr. Dong's family and the motorcycle to the police station. He Wei told the police to detain them for at least eight hours. The family clarified the situation to the police, explaining that they had just wanted to tell He Wei that a good person that he had reported had passed away, and that if he had not reported him, Mr. Dong wouldn't have been arrested and tortured in the forced labour camp, and in turn, wouldn't have died. The family said they simply wanted to persuade He Wei not to do that kind of thing again.

The police wouldn't let them go after questioning. Instead, they lodged false charges against the family, claiming, as one example, that they had damaged the door of He Wei's home, based on He Wei's false report. The police extorted 1,000 yuan¹ from the family and threatened to seize the motorcycle. The family tried to reason with the police, but the police said that they had to do this because He Wei insisted. He Wei said that he had to follow through to save face in front of fellow villagers, because the family's visit to his home had apparently made him lose face.

The four family members were "illegally detained" at the police station and not allowed to call home. Those at home were very anxious, not only because they were worried about the detained, but also because Mr. Dong's funeral was planned for the next day. The family was forced to accede to the demands of the police and He Wei. They gave 1,000 yuan to He Wei and took fireworks to He Wei's home to drive out the "bad luck" alleged to have been brought by the funeral clothes worn by Mr. Dong's daughter.

By around 10 p.m, the rest of Mr. Dong's family had finally finished collecting loans and were able to give the 1,000 yuan to He Wei, and those detained were released. Having to pay that much in extortion was a heavy burden for the poor family, which had already had 400 yuan extorted from them by the authorities for their detention of Mr. Dong. The family was already in debt after paying for the trips and the funeral.

Those who reported practitioners to the police include:

Zhao Wenhua, Party Secretary of Zhengxing Village: 86-451-53286543 (Home), 86-13100956088 (Mobile)
He Wei, Village Head of Zhaopaotun Village: 86-451-53286618 (Home), 86-13100880899(Mobile)

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/2008/9/27/186661.html