Police Shoot at Peaceful Falun Gong Practitioner During Arrest

Name: Sun Yi
Gender: Male
Age: 39
Address: Meijiagou Village, Xinzao Town, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 23rd, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Mianyang Detention Centre
City: Mianyang
Province: Sichuan
Persecution Suffered: Detention, forced labour reform, home ransacking, extortion

On May 23rd, 2011, police discharged their weapons while arresting a Falun Gong practitioner as he was working in a field. Mr. Sun Yi was arrested by local police while doing farm work. Although officers shot at Mr. Sun, he was fortunately not injured. Mr. Sun is currently being held in the Mianyang Detention Centre.

Mr. Sun had returned to his home to help during the busy harvest season. A man named Li Cuihua told police of Mr. Sun's whereabouts, and the police then arrested him at 3:00 p.m. as he was working in the fields. Eight police officers and other authorities were involved in the arrest, including Liu Ran, director of the Xinzao Police Station in the Fuxin District; Tong Xin, Party secretary at the same police station; Xiao Shigui, director of the Meijiagou Village; and five plainclothes officers.

When he saw the police approaching, Mr. Sun tried to leave the field. The police fired at him, then arrested him without a warrant or probable cause. Mr. Sun's elderly parents and wife witnessed his arrest but could do nothing. Later when the family went to the police station to ask about Mr. Sun's arrest, they were told he was not there. The police refused to tell them where Mr. Sun had been transferred.

Mr. Sun's family did not learn of his whereabouts until eleven days later. Mr. Sun was actually arrested by the police from the Fucheng District and detained at the Mianyang Detention Centre. His family did not see any signatures on the arrest warrant that the police showed them, but only the police station's stamp in the “Responsible Personnel” column.

Mr. Sun began practising Falun Gong in February 1998. He was a moral and hard-working person who was liked and respected by his colleagues. His supervisor said that it was rare to find a good worker like Mr. Sun. His co-workers liked to team up with him because he not only worked hard but also did not mind handling the more demanding duties that others tended to avoid.

Jiang Zemin's regime, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] started the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20th, 1999. On December 31st, 2000, when Mr. Sun went to Beijing to appeal to the central government, he was arrested by the Beijing police and sent to the Mianyang Office in Beijing. The State Security Bureau of Mianyang City detained him for 15 days and then extended his detention as if for a criminal offence.

On February 23rd, 2001, the Committee on Forced Labour in Mianyang sent Mr. Sun to a forced labour camp for 18 months, based on defamatory material concocted by Long Zhengwei, director of the Xinzao Police Station. Mr. Sun was then imprisoned and tortured in Xinhua Forced Labour Camp in Mianyang.

At around 4:00 a.m. on August 8th, 2008, Sun Xiaoming, director of the State Security Division of Fucheng District Police Station in Mianyang; officers from the Xinzao Police Department; and Xiao Shigui, director of the Meijiagou Village, ransacked Mr. Sun's home and confiscated personal property, including a computer, a typewriter, a satellite TV receiver, an MP3 player, some copies of Falun Gong materials. Mr. Sun had to leave his residence to avoid further persecution of himself and his family. Because he was wanted by the Fuzheng District Police Station these past years, he could not go home. In the summer of 2011, a busy season for farmers, he went home to help with the harvesting and was arrested.

In the meantime, under instructions from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), the Fucheng District Court in Mianyang set a trial for three other practitioners—Ms. Zhang Huali, Mr. Xie Chengguo, and Ms. Zhao Xiaojun—on June 27th, 2011. No sentences were announced.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/8/7/245047.html