Older Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Qu Chengye Dies as a Result of Abuse in Jinzhou Prison

Name: Qu Chengye
Gender: Male
Age: 58
Address: Shahe Town, Laizhou City, Shandong Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: March 20th, 2012
Date of Most Recent Arrest: February 25th, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jinzhou Prison
City: Laizhou
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, home ransacked, detention

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Qu Chengye died at the age of 58 in Jinzhou Prison on March 20th, 2012.

In February 2008, Wang Lijun, the former director of the Jinzhou City Police Department, organised a large scale arrest of Falun Gong practitioners. On the morning of February 25th, officers from the police sub-bureaus in the districts of Guta, Linghe, and Taihe, arrested nearly 30 practitioners in Jinzhou City. They ransacked practitioners' homes and confiscated many personal belongings along with a total of more than 100,000 yuan¹ in cash.

That same day, officers from the Jinzhou City Police Department who had travelled to Shandong Province and more than 30 officers from the Laizhou City Domestic Security Division climbed a wall and broke into Mr. Qu Chengye's home in Shahe Town, Laizou City. They arrested Mr. Qu and ransacked his home. Mr. Qu was taken to Jinzhou City and held in the Jinzhou No. 1 Detention Centre.

On August 27th, 2008, the Taihe District Court in Jinzhou sentenced Mr. Qu to six years in prison. While he was incarcerated in Jinzhou Prison, Mr. Qu developed serious health problems. He suffered from symptoms of a cerebral infarction (stroke) and his blood pressure reached 240 mmHg. Mr. Qu's family made several requests to have him released on medical parole, but the prison authorities ignored their requests.

Mr. Qu's symptoms worsened in December 2011. He had no strength in his legs due to the stroke, and he had little control over his mouth. He needed the support of other inmates to walk when his family visited him. His family made an adamant demand to take him home. Chief Li of the Sixth Team and guard Qiu Guohua refused their demand, claiming that they could take care of Mr. Qu adequately.

On March 20th, 2012, Mr. Qu's family received two notices from the prison. The first notice said that Mr. Qu was in a critical condition. The second notice said that Mr. Qu had died despite rescue efforts. Mr. Qu's family had no choice but to have his body cremated and took his ashes home.

Mr. Qu is the second Laizhou City practitioner to die in Jinzhou Prison as a result of abuse. The first was Mr. Zhang Litian. Mr. Zhang was arrested by officers from the Jinzhou City Police Department and the Taihe District Police Sub-bureau in Laizhou City, Shandong Province, in April 2008. He was taken to the Jinzhou No. 1 Detention Centre and sentenced to five years in prison in August 2008. He was taken to the No. 20 Prison District in Jinzhou Prison in October. One month later, on November 17th, 2008, he was beaten to death by the guards and inmates.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.