Mr. Luo Liteng from Macheng City Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison

Mr. Luo Liteng is a 30 year old Falun Gong practitioner from Macheng City, Huanggang District of Hubei Province. In June 2008, Mr. Luo was sentenced to 10 years in prison and sent to the Dispatching Station of Hongshan Prison in Huhan City. Since then, his family has lost contact with him. Mr. Luo's mother went to the Macheng Public Security Bureau to find out about Mr. Luo's whereabouts, but to no avail.

Mr. Luo's father, Mr. Luo Kaijun, was tortured to death by the police in Macheng. In April 2001, the police from Zhongyizhen Police Station of Macheng City brutally beat Mr. Luo Kaijun. As a result, his body swelled, and both his mouth and nose bled. He could not move and was unable eat or drink water for three consecutive days. He was sent to a hospital for an emergency treatment. The brutal beating left his internal organs severely damaged. His health continued to deteriorate under prolonged persecution. On September 23rd, 2002, Mr. Luo Kaijun passed away.

At the time that his father passed away, Mr. Luo Liteng's mother, Ms. Wu Yanwen was detained at Shayang Forced Labour Camp in Hubei Province. In April 27th, 2001, the Macheng Public Security Bureau sentenced Ms. Wu to two years of imprisonment. In 2003, Ms. Wu was released.

Mr. Luo Liteng was born on September 20th, 1978. In June 2007, the police arrested him and detained him at Macheng Detention Centre for a year. He was also sent to the Hubei Provincial Brainwashing Centre twice during his detention period. In June 2008, Mr. Luo was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. It is suspected that he may be detained at Fanjiatai Prison in Shayang.

According to an anonymous source, practitioners detained in Fanjiatai Prison are prohibited to talk with each other or communicate in any way. The practitioners are monitored by criminal inmates around the clock. Whether Mr. Luo is detained at Fanjiatai Prison and what his current situation is are unknown.

More than ten practitioners from Macheng are currently detained. Practitioners Yao Xiaoan was sentenced to 10 years; Luo Liteng 10 years; Liu Xin 6 years; Bai Zijian 4 years; Luo Xianbao 4 years; and Yu Xuelun to 3 years and detained at Fanjiatai Prison. Practitioner Dai Congli has been detained at Shayang Farm Prison beyond his term. Practitioners Li Chunmei was sentenced to 7 years, Xie Qiongying 7 years and Hu Liping 7 years (Xie Qiongying and Hu Liping are mother and daughter) are detained at Wuhan City Women's Prison.

In February 2008, practitioner Zhao Renhua went to visit her relatives in Beijing. On the morning of February 9th, police from Haidian District of Beijing arrested and detained her at Haidian Detention Centre. On May 13th, Ms. Zhao was sent to the ninth team of the Dispatching Station for Forced Labour Camp (also called Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp in Daxing) for two years of forced labour. On June 4th, Ms. Zhao was transferred to the notorious Masanjia Forced Labour Camp. Practitioners Fu Lisheng and Zhu Bidong became homeless due to the persecution. On June 24th, 2007, the Yingze branch of the Taiyuan City Public Security Bureau arrested them in Taiyuan City and detained them. Although the authorities have not initiated any court proceedings or trials for them, they still refuse to release them.

Since the persecution began in 1999, six practitioners from Macheng have been tortured to death. Among them, practitioner Wang Huajun was set on fire by the police and burned to death at Jinqiao Square. His brutal death shocked the world. The police from the domestic security division beat practitioner Li Jiju to death at Longchi Police Station and threw her body from a building. There are more than a dozen practitioners being sentenced and sent to prisons and forced labour camps, hundreds of practitioners being detained at brainwashing centres in Macheng and the Hubei Provincial Brainwashing Centre, and there are practitioners who are forced to leave their homes because of the persecution. In addition, a large number of practitioners suffer from heavy fines, detention, beatings and their homes being ransacked.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/4/24/199548.html