The Persecution of Mr. Li Zhibiao, a Former Cerebellar Degeneration Patient

Mr. Li Zhibiao is from Yitong County, Jilin Province. He was diagnosed with cerebellar degeneration when he was a child, due to damage resulting from an abnormal birth. He was also diagnosed as hyperactive and had difficulty coordinating the movement of his arms and legs. His parents took him to see many doctors, to no avail.

Mr. Li was fortunate to learn about Falun Gong in the spring of 1995. After three months of practising Falun Gong, he was able to co-ordinate his arm and leg movements well, and his health improved overall. He then quickly learned to ride a bike.

Li Zhibiao found a job in August 1996. As a Falun Gong practitioner, he was able to overlook personal rewards, and he worked hard to do a good job even during the years when the unit he worked for had difficulty paying wages.

But, in 1999 when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Li, a person who had finally been able to live a normal life after being disabled all his life, became the target of the persecution, too. He was arrested four times and brutally mistreated. As a result, he started to frequently fall into a state of sudden unconsciousness.

On February 24th, 2001 at 1:00 p.m., Liang Xiaofeng, an officer from the local police station, and another officer charged into Mr. Li's house and arrested him. At the police station, an officer said, "We searched the web and found you. Do you still practise Falun Gong?" Mr. Li said, "I must continue practising it because Falun Gong is so good." The officer said, "You're breaking the law if you practise it, and I have to lock you up." A little later, Mr. Li was taken to the county detention centre. The next day, Mr. Li thought, "I cultivate myself to be a good person and they lock me up. What fault is there with practising Falun Gong?" He smashed his head into the glass. [Note: Falun Gong teaches that one should never harm anyone, even oneself. This extreme measure is not consistent with the requirements of a practitioner.]

The director of the detention centre ordered his staff to take Mr. Li out of the cell and called the Public Security Bureau immediately. Three days later, a Public Security Bureau staff person took Li to the brainwashing centre managed by the local Party members. The person in charge and the deputy chief of the Public Security Bureau asked him, "Do you still practise Falun Gong?" Li Zhibiao answered, "I had serious illness all my life but practising Falun Gong restored my health. If you don't let me practise, my illness will resurface." The person in charge told the deputy chief that he could not admit a person like Mr. Li to the brainwashing centre. They then told his father to take him home.

On March 12th, 2002, at 12:30 a.m., Mr. Li Zhibiao's practitioner brother could no longer bear the pressure brought upon him by the police officers in the Luyuan District in Changchun City and led them to his house for a search. The officers took Mr. Li Zhibiao and his mother to the police station. Mr. Li escaped from the station at about 5:00 a.m. the next morning and began a life of displacement.

On November 1st, 2003, he went back to work after his mother spoke with the leadership of the unit where he previously worked and got consent for Mr. Li to return to work. At that point, he had drifted from place to place for a total of 19 months and 20 days.

A month later, on December 4th, 2003 at 6:00 a.m. in the morning, about 20 officers from the police station on Zhengyang Street in Yitong Town, showed up at Mr. Li's door. His father opened the door, and Liang Xiaofeng and other officers rushed into his house and took Li Zhibiao and many Falun Gong books away. Mr. Li Zhibiao was held at the detention centre. Frightened, his parents found some important people and paid money to get him home after he was detained for 15 days. By then his health had severely deteriorated.

On November 23rd, 2005, Mr. Li was at work when three police officers showed up and dragged him out of the office. He was taken to the County Public Security Bureau. Han Jie of the National Security Bureau talked with him for over an hour and then led him into a rented car. Cui Limin, the director of the 610 Office¹, Liang Xiaofeng, the local police officer; and other officers were also in the car. Mr. Li was taken to the Luotaishanzhuang Brainwashing Centre in Fushun City, Liaoning Province.

Mr. Li escaped from the brainwashing centre at around 6:00 p.m. the next day. He was disoriented and could not tell directions or which way to go after he got out of the centre. He was also worried about the officers catching up with him. It was late November and the weather had turned cold. He entered a forest and his clothing got caught on something, so it didn't take long for the police to begin to catch up with him. With the police cars whistling by, their frenzied shouting, and lights flashing all around, the police seemed to be closing in on him. Mr. Li lay on the ground in a small wild forest for over three hours. At last, he found a road that took him home.

It was obvious to his family that Mr. Li's physical condition had deteriorated badly by the time he arrived home. He was significantly affected by the terror he experienced during his escape. He would appear confused and suddenly fall down whenever he recalled the horrible incident. This continued for many years, and it happened sometimes at work.

The police have gone to Mr. Li's workplace to harass him many times since 2006.

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/9/7/207882.html