Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners by Lawless Officials in Jiaozhou City

A group of lawless officials led by Zhang Yuanfu, the Party Secretary of Jiaozhou City, Shandong Province and Liu Zuojin, the Secretary of the Political and Judiciary Committee, have been brutally persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Here are some brief reports of their persecution methods and their victims.

I. Illegally sentenced to forced labour camps

Without any legal processes, officials led by Zhang Yuanfu and Liu Zuojin illegally sent over 50 Falun Gong practitioners to forced labour camps.

II. Abduction to mental hospitals

Since the year 2000, around 40 Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally abducted and sent to mental hospitals where they are tortured. Under the orders of Zhang Yuanfu and Liu Zuojin, the mental hospitals treat Falun Gong practitioners as mentally ill patients. They inject most of the practitioners with drugs that are severely harmful to the central nervous system and force practitioners to take other medicines designed for mentally ill patients. They even shock some practitioners with electric needles.

III. Secret prisons and brutal brainwashing

Zhang Yuanfu, Liu Zuojin and others know that the detentions cannot last over 24 hours or they will become illegal. In order to cover up their long-term illegal conduct of abducting Dafa practitioners, they have set up a secret prison with tight security and called it a "Study Class" to make it sound legitimate. Liu Xuedong, the deputy secretary of the Politics and Legislation Committee, is personally onsite to command the prison. The police department, court, justice department and procurator take turns having their staff members on duty. In addition, there are four security people guarding practitioners. All the rooms and the gate are locked and the windows are blocked with steel bars. Practitioners have to report even if they go to the restroom.

Practitioners are fed only one small steamed bun, a piece of pickled radish and a bowl of water. Any food from their family members is not allowed at all. Neither are they allowed to see their family members. Even though the living conditions are very poor, the lawless authorities force practitioners to pay 1,500 Yuan per person every month [the average income for a worker in China is about 500 Yuan per month]. The forced brainwashing is conducted quite viciously. Practitioners who refuse to accept the brainwashing are handcuffed to the trees in freezing weather, or beaten up. Recently, the lawless authorities brutally beat Falun Gong practitioners for five consecutive days and nights. If someone falls asleep, they stab him with needles or nails. Over 200 people in Jiaozhou City have suffered from this brutal torture at one time or another. They claim that no one will be released without writing the "guarantee" to give up practising Falun Gong. There is no regard for the law at all.

IV. Use of town or village police stations to torture Falun Gong practitioners

Every town or village police station is like a small prison holding illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners during different periods. The policemen of North Wangzhu Town Police Station took away practitioners' clothes in the cold of winter and then handcuffed them to trees. Chen Kelei, the deputy Party Secretary of Zhang Ying Town, now retired, held a rod in one hand and a liquor bottle in the other hand. He beat practitioners with the rod once and would then take a sip of his liquor. The Nandu Village Police Station handcuffed practitioners to a horizontal bar. The police stations in Nanguang Town, Jiaodong Town, Fuan Town, Zhongyun Town and other places all committed the crime of severely beating Falun Gong practitioners.

V. Illegally sentenced to prison terms

After Falun Gong practitioners clarified the truth, many people stopped their vicious behaviour of persecution. However, in order to pursue personal interest, individual lawless officials in Jiaodong City continued persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. On April 25, 2002 they again illegally sentenced two practitioners who had actively clarified the truth about Falun Gong, to five-year prison terms, and sentenced two other practitioners to four-year terms. During the illegal sentencing, Zhao Xiuhua and Wang Guixiang spoke with justice saying, "We are innocent in clarifying the truth of Falun Gong. We do not accept the sentence. Falun Dafa is good."

Besides the crimes these officials committed described above, many practitioners' homes have been illegally searched and their property, such as appliances and farming equipment, has been confiscated. The officials have also extorted money, sometimes as much as 20,000 Yuan. Practitioners have been fired from their jobs, had their retirement funds severely deducted, etc.