Recently, Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Guo Hongfa, Mr. Xue Jiagui, Ms. Zhang Guizhi, Ms. Mao Yongfang, Ms. Mao Yongchun and Ms. Ren Yuying, from Gaomi City, Shandong Province, were sentenced by Gaomi City Court to lengthy prison terms. Mr. Guo Hongfa was sentenced to seven years, Mr. Xue Jiagui to three and a half years, Ms. Zhang Guizhi to four years, Ms. Mao Yongfang to six years, and Ms. Mao Yongchun and Ms. Ren Yuying were both sentenced to four and a half years, with Ms. Mao's sentence to be served outside of prison.
On November 11th, 2009, officials from Gaomi City's 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) took the practitioners to the Men's or Women's Prison in Jinan City.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials from the court are afraid of their actions being exposed, as they did not follow legal procedures, and held their trials in secret. Sometimes they didn't even send notices of the court's actions to the defendants' relatives.
On February 27th and 28th, 2009, police officers arrested Mr. Guo Hongfa, Mr. Xue Jiagui, Ms. Zhang Guizhi, Ms. Mao Yongfang, Ms. Mao Yongchun and Ms. Ren Yuying. They then ransacked their homes and confiscated their computers, printers and other personal belongings.
The practitioners were then held at the Gaomi City Detention Centre for approximately nine months, where they were persecuted. They were deprived of sleep for several days on end. Some of the practitioners were tortured in a small isolated cell.
The conditions practitioners face in an isolated cell in the Gaomi City Detention Centre can be described as follows: The cell is made of cement and has a brick floor. It is approximately 3 metres long and 2.2 metres wide. There is an iron chair1 in the middle and a urinal behind it. The door to the cell has two windows, one big and one small. The big window is always closed, and the small one is open during the day, but closed for most of the night. The light switch is outside the cell and the cell is completely dark, except when the guards on duty come to watch detainees. Detainees are only provided with one steamed bun (approx. 125g) for each meal, with no water. The cell is very stuffy inside and it is difficult to breathe. Practitioners are forced to sit on the iron chair with their hands tied to the arm rest and feet tied to the chair legs. A steel-framed, two-centimetre-thick block of wood is then fastened tightly around the stomach, not allowing room to breathe. The upper body is then fixed inside the chair. After a period of time the stomach area develops blisters and turns black and blue. An even more torturous method is when practitioners are forced sit on the iron chair, with the wooden board still pressed against their stomach; their left wrist and ankle are tied together and their right wrist and ankle are tied together. This way, their waist is pressed tightly against the wood and on their legs, making it very uncomfortable and difficult to breathe. If they try to move, the steel frame of the wood grinds into the stomach, causing excruciating pain. They are held in this position for very long periods of time. The person being tortured feels like they would want to die. Many practitioners have been tortured this way.
Details of officials from the Gaomi City Police Bureau who have participated in this persecution:
Liu Congdao, bureau chief: 86-15905363888 (Mobile), 86-536-2593601 (Office)
Xu Xiaoyi, commander of the monitoring department: 86-13516389618 (Mobile)), 86-536-2126110 (Office), 86-536-2324657 (Home)
Li Ribin, head of Gaomi City's 610 Office: 86-536-2318778 (Home), 86-13608953738 (Mobile)
Wang Chuanpu, commander of the Domestic Security Division: 86-13963606738 (Mobile), 86-536-2593670 (Office), 86-536-2331223 (Home)
Note
1. Iron Chair: The "Iron chair" is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time, see illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/12/31/215340.html
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