Mr. Liu Haiqiang Pleaded Not Guilty, Still Sentenced to Prison

Name: Liu Haiqiang
Gender: Male
Age: 49
Address: Dongzhangkou Village, Tianjiazhuang Town, Xinji City
Occupation: Farm worker
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 29th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xinji City Detention Centre
City: Xinji
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, home ransacked, detention

At 4:00 a.m. on June 29th, 2011, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Haiqiang was arrested at home by Xinji Domestic Security Team Chief Wei Chaohui, Deputy Chief Li Xiaofeng, and officers from the Tianjiazhuang Town Police Station. Mr. Liu was detained at the Xinji Detention Centre. Xinji City Procuratorate approved his arrest on July 11th, and submitted the case to the Xinji City Court on September 28th.

The Xinji City Court secretly tried Mr. Liu twice without notifying his family. Mr. Liu pleaded not guilty in court. He said, “Freedom of belief is every citizen's right. I practise Falun Gong and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person. I'm not guilty. I produce informational materials about Falun Gong for those who don't have Internet access, to let them know the truth about Falun Gong. I don't need to tell you how many leaflets I made or who I gave them to. If I tell you, you will go persecute them. Falun Gong is a righteous practice. What I have done is legal and legitimate. I hope you don't listen to the lies and violate the law as you carry out the law. Please be kind to Falun Gong practitioners.”

On December 15th, Mr. Liu was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by the Xinji City Court. That same day, he wrote a letter of appeal after receiving the sentencing document in the detention centre.

Mr. Liu, 49, began practising Falun Gong in 1998. He is regarded as a very good person by other villagers. However, he has been repeatedly arrested and detained just because he practised Falun Gong.

On December 17th, 1999, Mr. Liu took a train to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong and was intercepted at the Langfang Train Station. He was taken back and detained for 15 days by the Xinji Police Department.

On February 26th, 2000, Mr. Liu held an experience sharing conference at his home and was arrested by officers from the Tianjiazhuang Police Station and the Xinji Domestic Security Team. Mr. Liu's home was ransacked. He was first detained at the detention centre, then at the Xinji Party School, for a total of 60 days.

In 2001, Mr. Liu was taken to the Xinji Brainwashing Centre. He exposed the lies and evil theories of the collaborators¹. A few days later, he escaped by climbing over the gate of the brainwashing centre.

On January 30th, 2002, Mr. Liu was arrested by officers from the Jinzhou City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) while distributing materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. He was detained in the Jinzhou Detention Centre and severely beaten. He lost consciousness several times and his front teeth were broken out. He was later sentenced to two years of forced labour by the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Committee and incarcerated at Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp.

On January 16th, 2006, Mr. Liu was arrested at home by officers from the Tianjiazhuang Police Station and the Xinji Domestic Security Team. He was detained for 15 days.

On March 25th, 2011, a group of officers from the Tianjiazhuang Police Station and the Xinji Domestic Security Team broke into Mr. Liu's home and ransacked it without showing any identification. The officers confiscated a laptop computer, a CD burner, a printer, a TV, and a dish receiver. Mr. Liu was working in the fields at the time, and the officers tried to take Mrs. Liu away. The family tried very hard to stop them and Mrs. Liu managed to escape.

Note

1. "Collaborators" (former practitioners, brainwashed against Falun Gong, made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/12/30/251228.html