"Stop the Persecution and Restore My Freedom of Belief"--The Account of a Senior Practitioner

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Name: Zhou Yunqi
Gender: Male
Age: 72
Address: Residential Group 11, Xinhua Area, Jishu Street, Shulan City, Jilin Province

Occupation: Machinist / Quality Inspector
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 30th, 2001
Most recent place of detention: Nanshan Detention Centre
City: Shulan
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, Electric Shock, Torture, Extortion.
Key Persecutors: Zhang Honghai

Mr. Zhou Yunqi, 72, lives in Shulan City, Jilin Province. Starting in August 1985, he worked as a machinist and quality inspector at the Mechanical Factory under the Shulan Mining Bureau. In October 1994, he got an early retirement at age 58 due to poor health.

Before he practised Falun Gong, Mr. Zhou suffered from several health conditions, such dizziness, gastritis, chronic colitis, and peri-arthritis of the shoulder. After he began to practise Falun Gong in 1995, within one month, all his symptoms had disappeared.

The following is the persecution that Mr. Zhou suffered in his own words.

On September 20th, 2000, officers Zhang Yong and Yan Bo from Shulan Mining Bureau's Police Department forced their way into my house. They took away Falun Gong exercise and lecture tapes. They also confiscated my ID card.

From October 19th to November 18th, 2000, I was detained at Nanshan Detention Centre in Shulan City for 30 days. Because I planned to visit Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, the police labelled me for "disturbing the social order." Several officers were responsible for the persecution: Zhanqian Police Station Head Zhang, Political Head Wang, and policemen Fu and Yan Bo. Police department head Li Chuanxi was the main culprit.

On April 30th, 2001, when I went to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong, the Beijing police arrested me. After a body search, they held me in Dongcheng Detention Centre for 15 days. Those in charge used violence to force me to wear the prison uniform. One of them hit my neck with a high voltage baton so hard that I dropped to the floor instantly. Later I was sent to a cell with murderers and drug offenders.

On May 16th, 2001, I was transferred to Jiaodaokou Police Station in Beijing. At night, Policeman Yu Jie and three others began to torture me. They took me to two different dark rooms in the backyard on two occasions, my hands cuffed behind my back. Two men lifted my arms upward until my shoulder joints were almost dislocated. One used a barbed stick to hit my back, buttocks, legs, and feet. He also kicked my lower back. He swore at me while he tortured me, saying "It's no big deal if you guys die--you'll die for nothing. All we have to do is to fill in a form for unidentified bodies and submit it to the authorities." I almost passed out because of the pain.

After the torture, they brought me to a tree in the front yard, pushed my back against the tree, and cuffed my hands around it. For a long time, I could neither stand nor sit down. I did not have anything to eat for 36 hours, and the mental and physical pain was very hard to endure. The next morning right after dawn, Yu Jie and three other young police officers came again. They kicked my lower legs. The sharp pain caused me to sweat excessively, and by then I was covered with open wounds. When they finally took off the cuffs, the handcuffs had cut into my flesh at the wrists. For one year after that, the backs of my hands had no feeling.

On May 20th, 2001, Beijing police turned me over to my hometown police. Policeman Zhao Ruchen from Shulan took me back to Nanshan Detention Centre, where I remained 34 days. The place was so crowded that we had to take turns sleeping. There were two meals a day. The quality of the food was very poor. Each person was given some cornbread peppered with sand and a bowl of vegetable soup with a few pieces of rotten cabbage, potato, and a layer of sand at the bottom. There was no oil in the soup.

My pension from May to November 2001, totalling 2,660 yuan1, was confiscated by police officer Zhang Honghai (now the head of the Tiedong Police Station) and Labour Welfare Section head Zhang Dongyuan. Now my family had lost its only source of income, and it was the final blow for my wife, who passed away on October 23rd, 2001.

On 9:00 a.m. on June 10th, 2008, Jishu Street police officers Wang Jihong, Wu Mingchun, Li Weijun, Li Da, Zhang Xuetao, and three others came to my house. They pretended to be technicians from the water company who needed to "inspect the water supply." After I opened the door, they rushed in and ransacked my house without showing me their identification. They took away a number of valuables and 1,610 yuan in cash (my monthly salary). In the years since the persecution started, my total economic loss has amounted to 20,000 yuan.

My second daughter was also detained for ten days for practising Falun Gong.

People in Shulan City who directly participated in persecuting are:
Tao Yamin, Head of City Political and Legal Committee
Qin Xue, Deputy Head of Jishu Street Party Committee: 86-13844691126 (Mobile)
Lin Haijiu, head of Jishu Street General Management Office: 86-13234329206 (Mobile)
Wang Bo, Zuo Donghai, and Gao Chang, Shulan Mining Bureau Retirement Service Centre 610 Office
Wang Liguo, political head, Shulan Street Police Station: 86-13904440856 (Mobile)
Zhao Zhongjun, head of Shulan Street Police Station: 86-13804445101 (Mobile)
Police officers from Shulan Street Police Station Wu Mingchun: 86-13596287167(Mobile); Li Weijun: 86-13596231011(Mobile); Li Da: 86-13904445262 (Mobile); Zhang Xuetao: 86-13904440503(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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/9/9/208004.html

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