Zhang Minghui Suffers Severe Torture at Jiamusi Prison

Name: Zhang Minghui
Gender: Male
Age: 38
Address: Yonghe Town of Jidong County, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Teacher

Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 25th, 2008
Most recent location of detention: Kiamusu Jail
City: Jiamusi
Province: Heilongjiang Province
Persecution Suffered: Detention, interrogation, beatings, torture

Mr. Zhang Minghui is a 38-year-old middle school teacher from Yonghe Town of Jidong County, Heilongjiang Province. Because he firmly believed in Falun Gong and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and suffered severe torture at the hands of the guards and inmates at Jiamusi Prison. Division head Lao Baohua encouraged inmates Jiang Meiyu and others to torture Zhang Minghui and claimed, "Do whatever you want as long as you don't beat him to death."

After Being Beaten Up and Humiliated at the County Public Security Bureau, Mr. Zhang Was Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison

At 8 a.m. on January 25th, 2008, He Wenmin, Zhang Chen, Wang Jin and others from the Jidong County Public Security Bureau broke into Zhang Minghui's home. They arrested him and took him to the County Public Security Bureau.

During the interrogation, Zhang Chen lashed Zhang Minghui in the face and around the eyes with rubber strips. Yu Hongjun poured water on his neck and body and clamped his mouth and both ears for several minutes with metal clamps, put the portrait of the founder of Falun Gong under his buttocks, put chains on his ankles, forced him to sit on the ground, kicked him and did not allow him to use the toilet. He Wenqing beat Mr. Zhang in the head and face with a club. At around 1 a.m. the next day, they transferred Zhang Minghui to the county detention centre.

On May 30th, 2008, the Jidong County Court opened a trial against Zhang Minghui, and his family hired a lawyer. After concluding that the evidence was unclear and insufficient, the hearing ended. Later, the Jidong Court still sentenced Mr. Zhang to seven years in prison without following legal procedures.

Mr. Zhang Suffers Severe Torture at Jiamusi Prison

At 9 a.m. on November 6th, 2008, Zhang Minghui was detained in the Third Division (the current Second District) of the Fifth District at Jiamusi prison. District warden Lai Baohua incited inmates Jiang Meiyu and others to transform [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] and torture Zhang Minghui. He also ordered other inmates to co-operate as long as they "do not beat him to death." He promised to award Jiang Meiyu with six points towards sentence reduction for participating.

On November 7th, inmates Jiang Meiyu, Wang Jinliang, and Zhao Haijun pushed Zhang Minghui into the meeting room, forced him to sit on a long bench near the window with his legs bent, head under the water pipe, and his arms restrained behind his back. Jiang Meiyu and Wang Jinliang pressed his neck downward for over ten minutes. Later they forced him to sit under a chair with half of his body touching the ground, his arms held behind his back and his head in between the legs of chair. They punched and kicked his head, back and buttocks until he could not stand it. After that they forced him to run back and forth in a five- to six-metre area while shouting slanderous words against Falun Gong.

After that, Zhang Minghui was forced to sit on a plastic stool all day long. He was arbitrarily beaten at various times throughout the day. Once, Zhao Haijun forced both his arms to his back and Jiang Meiyu dug his fingers into his eyeballs to force him to write a "transformation plan" to give up Falun Gong.

On March 4th, 2009, Zhang Minghui exposed the torture that he suffered from the Office of Education and Reform. At around 7 p.m., Jiang Meiyu and Zhao Haijun escalated the torture. They forced him into the "airplane" position, with his back bent and arms raised up behind him. When Zhang Minghui refused, Zhao Haijun grabbed his clothes and lifted him up into the air with the help of Jiang Meiyu. Then they suddenly dropped him. As a result, Zhang Minghui's head and body landed on the ceramic tile floor. Zhao Haijin dragged him to a cell, tied up both his hands with tape, put a dirty mop inside his mouth and jabbed his legs with a needle until other inmates arrived.

At 8 p.m., Zhang Minghui shouted, "Jiang Meiyu beat me up!" Assistant Wei Mengjun ignored it and handed the issue to a clerk from the Office of Education and Reform, Zhao Min. Zhao said to the police officer on duty, Zhu Minghui, "Handcuff him to the door if he shouts again." Zhao also ordered Zhang Minghui to be deprived of sleep.

On March 14th, after finding a handwritten Falun Gong book, Jaing Meiyu forced Zhang Minghui to sit on the floor and kicked him in the chest and abdomen. Together with Zhao Haijun, they banged his head against the wall, causing severe bruising. He was forced to sit in the same spot until midnight.

On April 8th, after Zhang Minghui practised the Falun Gong exercises, he was again physically abused and beaten in the face.

On May 16th, Jiang Meiyu placed Zhang Minghui under strict monitoring again. This was because Zhang Minghui talked about Falun Gong to the head of the Education and Reform Office and head of the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), Cao Jiangwu and others. Zhao Min incited inmates to torture Mr. Zhang on May 16th and 19th.

The next day, Zhang Minghui exposed the torture he had suffered at a meeting where there were police present. Wang Chen, the police director, pushed him outside. Chief Gong Zhaopu ordered him to go to his office, where Zhang Minghui showed Gong his scars and told him about how he got them. Gong looked over the wounds and said, "We need to confirm that." Wei Mengjun then came in and verbally abused Zhang Minghui.

The perpetrators have not been punished to this day.

Related article:

Mr. Zhang Minghui Beaten and Tortured in Mudanjiang Forced Labour Camp http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2008/7/4/98657.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/11/27/213378.html