Mr. Lei Jingxiong Almost Cremated Alive, Then Arrested Again

Name: Lei Jingxiong
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Address: Jiahe County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province
Occupation: Unemployed
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 18th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xishui County Detention Centre
City: Xishui County
Province: Guizhou
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, imprisonment, torture, interrogation, detention

During the past ten years of persecution, Mr. Lei Jingxiong has been constantly harassed and tortured by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 2004, police officers from Tianxing Public Security Bureau in Changsha City, Hunan City, had seemingly beat Mr. Lei to death. As his body was about to be cremated in a funeral home, a female officer discovered life signs and stopped the cremation. Mr. Lei was taken to a hospital, where he was again beaten. His face was disfigured, his left eye popped out slightly, one of his ears had gone deaf, and his chin was shattered. Because of his appearance, the young college graduate couldn't find a job.

Mr. Lei started to practise Falun Gong in 1997 while still in high school. In 2000, dozens of high school students in Jiahe County cheated on their college entrance exams, with the exception of Mr. Lei (his name was Lei Lan back then). A newspaper reporter interviewed him at the time. Half a semester after Mr. Lei entered Hunan Normal University in Changsha City, he and two other students were recommended to study in the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

After the persecution of Falun Gong started, Mr. Lei was arrested six times and tortured every time. While still in college, officers from the Jiahe County 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and Public Security Bureau arrested him and detained him at the Jiahe Detention Centre for twenty-nine days. The Public Security Bureau extorted 4,000 yuan ¹ from him, the 610 Office 3,000 yuan and an officer 3,000 yuan. Mr. Lei was too poor to pay. Eventually his uncle paid the 10,000 yuan (US$1,430) and he was released.

The second time Mr. Lei was taken to a detention centre, he went on a hunger strike for twelve days. The police did not want to take responsibility for his death, so they asked his family to take him home.

In 2001, Mr. Lei went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He walked for thirty-three days. Officers from the Jiahe 610 Office and Public Security Bureau arrested him. He was imprisoned in the Xinkaipu Forced Labour Camp in Changsha City and tortured for six months. Then he was transferred to the Jiahe Detention Centre where he was imprisoned for another six months.

In 2002, Mr. Lei went to Beijing to earn a living. Staff at the Jiahe 610 Office would not allow him to leave town because he practised Falun Gong. They arrested him in Beijing. Mr. Lei worked very hard and got along very well with others. His supervisor wanted to pay the police a guarantee deposit to keep him working there. The officers made up an excuse and took Mr. Lei back to Jiahe County.

Five days after he was back home, armed police arrested him. In 2003, the 610 Office in Dongguan County, Guangdong Province, posted a public notice and promised a 1,000-yuan reward to whomever captured Mr. Lei. The officers also arrested his father, relatives, and two brothers-in-law and interrogated them. The officers told his father that he taught many students and some of them became psychotic.

On August 18th, 2004, officers from the Tianxing Public Security Bureau in Changsha City, Hunan Province, arrested Mr. Lei. They tortured him and beat him, seemingly to death. The officers took him to a funeral home. Before he was to be cremated however, he moved. A woman police officer said that he couldn't be cremated because he wasn't dead. Several male police officers said, "He is almost dead. He is here anyway, let's just do it." The woman replied, "He is not dead. Which one of you wants to be responsible for killing him if one day there is an investigation into his death?" No one said a thing. Mr. Lei was taken to the Changsha City Central Hospital.

When Mr. Lei was being treated, the police continued to beat him. All of his teeth were loosened, his chin shattered, and his facial skin and flesh were smashed and his cheek bones were exposed. One of his eyes popped out slightly and one of his ears was deaf. The doctors had to cut open his throat so they could feed him food through the opening. His father demanded the hospital heal him and the doctors used iron clamps to secure his face for 40 days. His mother cried bitterly after seeing him like that. Mr. Lei told his mother that he was fine and smiled.

As Mr. Lei's face was disfigured with a swollen left eye and a crooked chin, no one wanted to hire him.

One of his relatives arranged a job for him. On June 18th, 2009, he and his uncle Xiao Meisheng were about to fly from Guangzhou City to Hangzhou City for his new job. The airport staff arrested him. According to Xiao, the staff detained Mr. Lei, saying he had a blade in his wallet. At 10:40 a.m., two police officers put Mr. Lei into a police car. His whereabouts are unknown.

In July 2009, a person called Mr. Lei's family and said that Mr. Lei was transferred from the Guangzhou Domestic Security Brigade to the Xishui County Detention Centre in Guizhou City on June 28th. The person told his family that he might be sentenced. Mr. Lei's father wrote a letter to the Xishui County police, which remained unanswered. It's being said that Mr. Lei received an eight-year prison term.

Related article: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/5/16/60804.html

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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/1/11/216090.html