An Upstanding Person Faces an Unjust Trial

Name: Liu Zhichen
Gender: Male
Age: 59
Address: Fengman Village, Wangqi Town, Fengman District, Jilin City
Occupation: Unknown
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, extortion, forced labour.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Zhichen received a phone call at 3:00 p.m. on March 4th, 2011, from Dong Hongbo, director of the Wangqi Town Police Station, requesting to meet him at Mr. Liu's home. Although no family members were at home and the door was locked, Mr. Liu found the police sitting inside his home when he came back. Obviously the police broke the lock to forcibly gain entry, but they denied it. Upon ransacking Mr. Liu's home, the police found printing equipment and they called the State Security Group of the Fengman District to arrest Mr. Liu. They took away Mr. Liu's personal belongings, including an MP3 player, a computer, two colour printers, a DVD burner, a DVD player, and Falun Gong DVDs. Mr. Liu has since been detained at the Jilin Detention Centre.

On June 14th, the Liu family received notice that the Fengman District Court, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), had set a trial date for Mr. Liu on June 25th.

Mr. Liu Zhichen began practising Falun Gong in 1998. He had suffered from heart disease, stomach problems, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, but all his illnesses disappeared as a result of Falun Gong practice. Mr. Liu has been cultivating himself to be a moral person by following Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and he has been helping his fellow villagers over these years.

For example, Mr. Liu helped save others' lives instead of his property during the flood in Jilin in 2010. The flood arrived at Wangqi Town and destroyed many houses, including Mr. Liu's. Two gas containers he used for storing household fuel, a trunk of antique furniture, and 500 kilograms of grain were all washed away. Rather than trying to look for his belongs in the flood, Mr. Liu focused on helping and rescuing others.

Eighty-two year-old Cui Zhenxing was surrounded by the swift water, and Mr. Liu rescued him to a safe place. He then he carried the elderly Ms. Li to the headquarters of the village. Four people of the Yin family were trapped in their own house, so Mr. Liu and a rescue team worked together to break through a wall to get the Yins out. Because Mr. Liu contributed so much in rescuing flood-affected people, the rescue team thought he was the official leader of the village.

Mr. Liu's house was close to a main road where many people passed by every day. He offered help to whoever was in need, and sometimes offered immediate accommodation and food to beggars. For years, Mr. Liu volunteered to fix the road in Fengman Town, which was part of the road between Fengman and Dashi Village.

Mr. Liu is well known for lending or sharing his belongings unselfishly. His neighbour had to build a new home after the flood but needed more land than his original area. Mr. Liu gave eight square metres of his own land to his neighbour.

The above are but a few examples of Mr. Liu's good deeds over these years. Friends, relatives, and fellow villagers were all moved by Mr. Liu's selflessness and compassion. Some officials from the local township government once said to Mr. Liu, “If you did not practise Falun Gong, you would not be a person with such high moral standards.”

However, this good person has been persecuted because of his belief in Falun Gong for the past ten years. He has been harassed, arrested, detained, and imprisoned many times,. His home has been ransacked, and he is now facing another trial. In 2001, Mr. Liu was arrested by Wangqi Town police and imprisoned at the Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp in Jiutai for one year. During that year, he suffered from psorelcosis and pulmonary oedema. He was finally released on medical parole.

Mr. Liu was arrested by Qangqi Town police in the Fengman District, Jilin on March 4th. He has been detained for one hundred and six days, leaving his fifty-nine year-old wife alone and their vegetable field unplanted. The company that Mr. Liu once worked for wants him back as well, because they were very satisfied with his work.

Recently, upon hearing that the reputable Mr. Liu is facing a trial because of his spiritual belief, fellow villagers began circulating a petition to stop the trial, which lacks a constitutional foundation, and to secure the unconditional release of Mr. Liu.

Relevant personnel:

Dong Hongbo, director of Wangqi Town Police Station, Fengman District: 86-13844658315 (Mobile)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/6/21/-242768.html