Factory Manager Mr. Zhou Jingcheng Faces Trial on Day 50 of His Hunger Strike Protest

Name: Zhou Jingcheng
Gender: Male
Age: 51
Address: Baima Blvd, Beitang Town, Ningxiang County, Hunan Province
Occupation: Factory manager
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 20th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Ningxiang County Detention Centre
City: Changsha
Province: Hunan
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, imprisonment, torture, force-feedings, extortion, physical restraint, home ransacked, detention, denial of toilet use

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhou Jingcheng is the manager of the Renmingnan Road Feed Factory in Ningxiang County, Hunan province. He has been on a hunger strike since he was arrested on August 20th, 2011. Under the order of the Ningxiang 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), the Ningxiang Procuratorate brought charges against Mr. Zhou based on supposed evidence provided by the Ningxiang Police Department. Mr. Zhou will soon be put on trial.

Officers from the Ningxiang County Xiaduopu Police Station arrested Mr. Zhou while he was telling others about the persecution of Falun Gong on the afternoon of August 20th, 2011. He was subsequently detained at the Ningxiang County Detention Centre. It has been 50 days since Mr. Zhou went on a hunger strike to protest his arrest and detention. He has developed hypoglycaemia and many other serious health problems.

Under orders of the 610 Office, the Ningxiang Police Department and Ningxiang Procuratorate ignored Mr. Zhou's hunger strike. They brought a trumped up charge against Mr. Zhou. When Mr. Zhou's family requested to have him either released on bail pending trial or serve the sentence outside the prison, the Ningxiang Court and the Ningxiang Procuratorate denied the request. Mr. Zhou is now facing trial even though he is in critical condition from the hunger strike, with many illnesses surfacing.

Following the Principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance, Mr. Zhou had a Good Reputation

Mr. Zhou is one of the owners of the feed factory. When a pig farmer could not pay a feed loan resulting from an outbreak of hog cholera, Mr. Zhou paid for the farmer's loan from his own wallet.

He once received 300 yuan¹ in counterfeit bills from a customer. He immediately burned them, saying, “This is fake money. I'll take the loss. I am burning them so others won't be victimized.”

He donated money to schools and education programmes, paid workers to repair roads and river banks. He donated 10,000 yuan to flood victims in 1998.

Arrested and Detained Many Times

After the Chinese Communist Party began its persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Zhou was repeatedly arrested for practising it. He was detained eight times, held in forced labour camp twice, and sentenced to prison once. He was subjected to severe beatings and physical punishment at the detention centre, forced labour camp and prison. He is a survivor of severe torture.

In October 2002, after police tortured him for five days and nights, officers of the Ningxiang County Domestic Security Division and the Baoji Police Station put Mr. Zhou into the Hunan Province Xinkaipu Forced Labour Camp, without filing charges or having a trial. The camp gave guards a 10,000 yuan bonus each time they “transformed” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] a practitioner. The guards forced Mr. Zhou to watch videos defaming Falun Gong. At the same time, they did not allow him to sleep, close his eyes, or use the bathroom. They repeatedly beat him. He had bruises all over his body, and a big wound near the end of his eyebrow as a result of being beaten.

In September 2004, he was arrested for speaking about the persecution of Falun Gong to others in Shoashan, and was secretly sentenced to six years in prison. He protested the sentence. After 49 days on hunger strike, his weight had dropped from 140 pounds to 77 pounds. He was released because of his health condition.

In January 2006, the Ningxiang County 610 Office had officers arrest Mr. Zhou again, and held him at the Jinshi City Second Detention Centre. Guards had inmates put socks soaked in the chamberpot into his mouth and held him against the floor for several hours. He once again went on a hunger strike that lasted for more than 50 days. Eight of his teeth were knocked out during brutal force-feedings.

He was later transferred to the Wanling Prison in You County, Zhuzhou City. Guards there shocked him using electric batons. They shocked his head, lower body, ears, and other sensitive parts. They once continually shocked him for an hour. He endured intense pain and had burn scars all over his body. On another occasion, they cuffed him to the bed and beat him for ten days and nights. His ribs were broken because of being trampled. After being beaten, his ears were bloody, and then they atrophied and became distorted. He went on a hunger strike for 570 days and was subjected to brutal force-feedings for over 500 days.

Mr. Zhou Not Allowed to See His Mother Before Her Death

While Mr. Zhou was imprisoned at the Wangling Prison, his mother passed away in July 2007. He was not allowed to see her before she died.

Arrested Again after Writing an Open Letter

After he was released in September 2010, Mr. Zhou wrote an open letter to the Ningxiang County 610 Office and other government offices. He detailed the persecution and requested the return of his money, 35,800 yuan cash which was taken away by the county domestic security division, 610 Office, and Batang Town General Management Office. He never received a reply to his letter.

On the afternoon of August 20th, 2011, Mr. Zhou was arrested again. Ningxiang County Political and Judiciary Committee deputy director and county 610 Officer director Zhou Dingxing, officers from the Baimaqiao Police Station, and agents from local community searched his home at night and took him away. They claimed that he would be sentenced to six years in prison.

People involved in persecution:

Zhou Dingxing, director of Ningxiang County 610 Office: +86-731-87830157 (Home), +86-13755096588 (Mobile)
Cheng Zaiqiang, deputy director of Ningxiang County 610 Office: +86-731-87858158 (Home), +86-13007488489((Mobile)
Jiang Jiehua, deputy director of Ningxiang County 610 Office: +86-87890608 (Home), +86-13755076222 (Mobile)
Zeng Ninghan, deputy director of Ningxiang county Police Department: +86-731-87880030 (Home), +86-13974955229 (Mobile)
Liu Kai, chief of Ningxiang county Police Department: +86-13317497528 (Mobile)
Xiong Shiqing, warden of Ningxiang County Detention Centre: +86-13907490017

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/2011/10/11/247742.html