Ms. Chi Xiandao Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Name: Chi Xiandao
Gender: Female
Age: 46-47
Address: Fifth Block, Dongfengxin Village, Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Early retired from management offices of Sanhuan Drilling
Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 26th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Daqing City Detention Centre, may have been taken to Harbin City Women's Prison
City: Daqing
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, forced labour, beatings, hung up, imprisonment, solitary confinement, torture, force-feedings, physical restraint, denial of toilet use, sleep deprivation

Ms. Chi Xiandao, a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested on February 26th, 2010, by the Domestic Security Division of Daqing City Police Department and Dong'an District Police Department. After three months in detention, Ms. Chi was sentenced to four years in prison in early June.

Ms. Chi has a B.A. degree from Daqing Petroleum College. After she started practising Falun Gong, her many illnesses disappeared without medical treatment. Her family was the object of envy. Her husband is a generous, forgiving, and kind man. Her son excels academically and has excellent moral character. In addition to improving her health, Falun Gong has taught Ms. Chi to be more tolerant and forgiving. She became a better mother and wife. As a result, her family became all the more harmonious. Ms. Chi has faced numerous hardships in the past 11 years since China started its suppression of Falun Gong, but she remains steadfast in her faith.

This year, shortly before China's National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, police in Daqing arrested many local Falun Gong practitioners. The mass arrests were overseen by Feng Haibo from Daqing City Police Department and implemented by area police stations. The Clearwisdom website reported the arrest of seven practitioners in Daqing alone, four of whom were sentenced to prison. Ms. Chi Xiandao was one of them.

At about 3 p.m. on February 26th, 2010, Feng Haibo, captain of Daqing City Domestic Security Division; Sun Wanku, deputy chief of Dong'an District Police Department; Hu Xiao, commander; Sun Fengwen; Chi Changzhu; Ding Caifeng, female; Wang Fei; and about ten police officers lied their way into Ms. Chi's home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, a computer, a printer, materials containing important information about Falun Gong, and paper bills that had messages about the goodness of Falun Gong written on them. In addition, they also arrested Ms. Tang Zengye, a practitioner who had come to visit Ms. Chi's parents. Ms. Tang was taken to Daqing City No. 1 Detention Centre.

In those three months of imprisonment, Ms. Chi and her family were subjected to more torment than one could ever imagine. Because the police are restricting information about Ms. Chi, we have only been able to obtain the following information about her.

Deceived and Arrested

At around 3 p.m. on February 26th, Ding Caifeng, a female police officer from the Team No.5 of Dong'an Branch of Daqing Public Security Bureau, knocked on Ms. Chi's door and told her that she worked for the building management and had to check her apartment because the unit downstairs reported a water leak. Once Ms. Chi opened the door, Feng Haibo and Sun Wanku led a team of ten or more police officers into the apartment. They arrested Ms. Chi and ransacked her home.

Ms. Chi's parents are over 70 years old. Her mother fractured her leg and needs crutches to walk. Her father suffered a stroke and cannot take care of himself. Ms. Chi moved them in with her over the 2010 Chinese New Year holidays from her home town in Shandong Province. The day after her father got out of the hospital, the police ransacked his new home for four hours. They found Falun Gong books and materials, and some currency bills with truth Falun Gong messages written on them.

When the police tried to take Ms. Chi away, she said, "I cannot go with you, because my mother undergoes surgery tomorrow, and my father cannot take care of himself. My son is in middle school. Who would take care of my parents? Who would cook meals for my son?" Her family begged and pleaded with the officers not to take her away.

One officer with a conscience commented, "Why should we arrest people like her?"

Deputy Sun Wanku said, "We will bring you back in three hours after we interview you. We emphasise civility and decorum in managing police affairs, and I guarantee she will be back in three hours."

Ms. Chi refused to believe his lies. Sun finally shouted, "You have no choice but go with us, or we will carry you away today!" He ordered two officers to carry Ms. Chi down the stairs and into the police vehicle. Ms. Chi's mother, who had not let go of her daughter, was dragged along the floor. She crawled to the doorway, heartbroken and in tears.

Seeing the police take their daughter away, her parents were grief-stricken and their health worsened. Her son could not calm down and prepare for his high school exams. They were hoping Deputy Sun might fulfil his promise to release Ms. Chi in three hours, but she never returned. Her husband was forced to take days off from work in Shandong Province in order to care for the family.

Soon after the arrest, the Clearwisdom website exposed the facts of the situation. Suspecting her son was Clearwisdom's source, Feng Haibo reported him as spreading "lies" on the Internet, thereby blacklisting this ninth grader.

610 Office Determined Sentencing

The 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and Domestic Security agents allege they found bills with Falun Gong messages exposing the persecution written on them. But Ms. Chi and Ms. Tang maintain their innocence. They have sought only to help people learn the truth of Falun Gong. They have urged these officers to not commit crimes against good people. Nevertheless, Feng has filed cases with the Sartu District Procuratorate with fabricated "confessions" and "crimes" against the two women.

The violent arrests and interrogation these ladies have endured has greatly damaged their health. Since the arrests, they have each required hospital treatment on multiple occasions. Ms. Tang was in critical condition, vomiting blood, before police released her on medical parole when she paid over 2000 yuan¹. Her brother carried her home on April 9th. Through practising Falun Gong she has miraculously recovered. When the police tried to arrest her again, she managed to escape.

Ms. Chi was also very sick, but Feng Haibo prevented her husband from making use of the medical parole process. He fabricated "evidence" by grossly inflating the quantity of Falun Gong materials found in Ms. Chi's home. For instance, 30 disks became 157, while a few currency bills become 2848 bills. According to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regulation, 100 disks or 300 flyers (or bills) are enough to merit a prison sentence.

At around 10:30 a.m. on May 11th, Saertu District Court put Ms. Chi on trial but did not announce the verdict. Her parents begged the judge to release their daughter. The judge told them that the CCP Political and Judiciary Committee and the 610 Office would decide her sentence, not the court. A four-year term was set to begin in June 2010.

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/2010/6/10/225177.html