Mr. Zhang Guangcai Sentenced to Forced Labour for the Third Time

Mr. Zhang Guangcai, 49, is a dentist in Shahe City, Hebei Province. Originally from Xiediannanmancai Village, Guan County, Shandong Province, he and his wife Zhang Xingfang moved to Shahe in 1986 to open a dental clinic. Eight years later he developed serious health issues and couldn't find a cure, despite trying various treatments. After learning about Falun Gong's miraculous healing effects, he returned to his hometown in Shandong Province in August 1995 to find out more. Just 10 days into his practice of Falun Gong, his ailments disappeared, and he felt energetic and full of hope.

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Shahe Police Department officials considered Mr. Zhang a primary target and closely monitored him. Several times the police temporarily closed his clinic, which resulted in significant financial losses for his family.

Mr. Zhang was arrested and tortured multiple times, and sentenced to forced labour three times. The most recent sentence came shortly after his arrest on September 20th, 2010, when he was on his way to the hospital to visit his ill father. He is currently awaiting transfer to a forced labour camp.

Guard at Handan Forced Labour Camp broke Mr. Zhang's ribs

Mr. Zhang was arrested in October 2000 while on his way to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong and sentenced to two years of forced labour. He was sent to the Handan Forced Labour Camp directly from the Shahe Police Department. Because he refused to give up his belief, guards subjected him to brutal torture. Two of his ribs were broken after Section No. 2 guard Wang Xusheng kicked him for taking care of other sick practitioners. The labour camp didn't want to take any responsibility for inducing injuries, so they then arranged for him to be driven back to the Shahe Police Department. Since he was in a precarious condition health-wise, Political Security section head Xia Qifang didn't want to accept him either. Xia fled once Mr. Zhang was brought out of the vehicle.

Family members also suffer persecution

When policemen Liu Tonglin and Yu Shuping went to Mr. Zhang's dental clinic the afternoon of June 6th, 2004, attempting to arrest him again, they were met with strong resistance from his wife Zhang Xingfang. The officers became infuriated and seized her and the couple's son Zhang Hualong, who was scheduled to take the college entrance exam a few days later. The police detained Ms. Zhang for three months on charges of interfering with law enforcement. They later went back to the couple's home, pried the door open and confiscated 400 yuan¹ in cash. They also verbally abused the couple's daughter, who was at home at the time.

Mr. Zhang was also subsequently arrested. Once at the police department, he told the officers about the benefits he experienced from practising Falun Gong. The police turned a deaf ear and handcuffed him to a metal chair and took turns monitoring him. Since they limited the number of times he could use the toilet, he had to force himself to drink only a few sips of water and eat very little every day. Eight days later they transferred him to the brainwashing centre set up at the Xingtai City Legal School. The guards there shook his head to prevent him from falling asleep. When he went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, they brutally force-fed and beat him. After three months, he lost much of his strength and was reduced to just skin and bones.

Husband and wife arrested again

Just three months after his release, on December 24th, 2004, a group of policemen broke into Mr. Zhang's clinic and arrested him and his wife again. He was wearing a robe at the time, but the officers forbade him to change. He and his wife were taken straight to the brainwashing centre in Xingtai.

Song Jiaxi from the Qiaoxi Police Department shocked him with electric batons and handcuffed his hands behind his back in an attempt to extract a confession at the centre. Mr. Zhang still has visible marks from that torture today.

When Mr. Zhang went on a hunger strike, assistant head Qiu Youlin brutally force-fed him. Afterward, Mr. Zhang had great difficulty breathing and couldn't stop coughing. He ached all over and couldn't lie on his back. At night he had to get up numerous times to empty his bladder. When the guards finally took him to the hospital, an X-ray indicated there was a severe injury to his lungs. Not wanting to take responsibility, the brainwashing centre officials returned him to the Shahe City Police Department six days later. The police officials then intended to transfer him to the Handan Forced Labour Camp, but the labour camp refused to accept him due to his poor health, and police had no choice but to release him.

His wife was transferred from the brainwashing center to Shijiazhuang City, to serve a forced labour term of one year and nine months.

Mr. Zhang and his brother arrested before the 2005 Chinese New Year

Shortly before the 2005 Chinese New Year, Mr. Zhang returned to Guan County in Shandong Province to celebrate the holiday with his parents and his younger brother Zhang Guangbao. Guan County policeman Chen Yuezhi, and Shahe City Police Department officers Yu Shuping and Hou Baohong arrested him on February 4th, 2005. His brother was also arrested shortly afterward. The two brothers spent the Chinese New Year at the Guan County Detention Centre.

Mr. Zhang arrested again

In order to help his aging parents, Mr. Zhang invited them to live with him in Shahe. His father checked into the Shahe City Hospital on September 15th, 2010, after developing symptoms of a stroke. A few days later, a group of officers led by Wang Jianjun from the Shahe City Police Department's Domestic Security Division arrested Mr. Zhang while he was on his way to the hospital.

According to witnesses, when Mr. Zhang arrived at the hospital on his electric bike on the morning of September 20th, several plainclothes policemen suddenly came out, knocked him down and forced him into a police vehicle. One of the witnesses immediately called Mr. Zhang's son, who then went to the police station and spotted his father's electric bike in the police department courtyard. The police initially did not admit to arresting his father. When he questioned how it was possible for his father's bike to be there if they had not arrested him, the police reluctantly admitted to it. When Mr. Zhang's son questioned again why there was no arrest warrant and why they didn't inform the family, Domestic Security Division deputy head Hou Shouhong replied, "Zhang Guangcai practises Falun Gong. We do not need to inform his family when arresting him. Plus, he shouted, 'Falun Gong is good' during the arrest, which in itself was evidence of his crime."

Mr. Zhang was sentenced to one year and nine months of forced labour on September 27th. The verdict, however, was dated September 21st. Officials at the legal section of the Xingtai City Police Department told Mr. Zhang's family that they would negotiate with the Domestic Security Division to reduce Mr. Zhang's sentence to one year if the family paid them 10,000 yuan, but the family declined this proposition.

Ms. Zhang took her two children to the Domestic Security Division on September 30th to request her husband's unconditional release. She listed the facts showing that the police did not follow legal procedures in arresting and sentencing her husband. When she demanded to see copies of relevant documents, division head Wang Jianjun said angrily, "The more you claim I am an evil policeman, the faster I get promoted."

Parties involved in the persecution:

Shahe City Domestic Security Division head Wang Jianjun: 86-319-8625807 (Home), 86-319-8905888 (Office), 86-13503196699 (Mobile) 86-13315932966 (Mobile)
Deputy head Hou Shouhong
Policeman Jia Jianchao
Shahe City Police Department head: Xie Jiyun
Shahe City 610 Office: 86-319-8921132
610 Office Head Zhang Shemin: 86-319-8921299 (Office), 86-319-8817668 (Home), 86-13831970800 (Mobile)
Shahe City Detention Centre: 86-319-8836477, 86-319-8838909
City Party head Wang Jianguo: 86-13483981111 (Mobile)
City Mayor Qu Bing: 86-1350339956 (Mobile)

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 p://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/10/7/230675.html