Mr. Pang Guangwen Tortured with Heavy Foot Shackles; His Family Members Are Extremely Worried

On the evening of April 27th, 2012, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police officers arrested Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Pang Guangwen. They put him in the Qingchilu Detention Centre in Changning District, Shanghai for detention. Currently, he has been detained for 30 days. At the detention centre, Mr. Pang was put in heavy foot shackles. No one was able to obtain a list of items that were confiscated from him; not his family members or even his lawyer. Ms. Pang's wife is very concerned about him. She, too, has been persecuted for more than three years by the CCP.

Mr. Pang Guangwen, a resident of Shandong Province, was doing business in Sanzao Township in the Nanhui District, Shanghai City. On April 27th, at 8 p.m., Mr. Wang and another practitioner, Mr. Zhao Bin, were arrested by police officers from the Jiangsulu Police Station in the Changning District. After arresting him, police officers confiscated his computers, printers, and other items, and put him in the Qingchilu Detention Centre in Changning District for detention.

When Mr. Pang was doing the exercises at the detention centre, guards tortured him by shackling his feet and hands together on the ground. They also forced him to wear a criminal uniform. He went on a hunger strike May 22nd.

On the afternoon of May 24th, Mr. Pang's lawyer came to visit him. He saw that his hands and feet were heavily shackled to the ground. Having never seen this, he asked why the guards were using such a cruel punishment on Mr. Pang. The guards replied that it was because he was doing the exercises and exclaiming that Falun Gong is wonderful. The guards then force fed Mr. Pang, who had been on a hunger strike for more than three days. Being force fed is in itself a cruel punishment; many practitioners have died as a result of this cruelty. The lawyer was ignored when he repeatedly requested that the guards take off the heavy foot shackles on Mr. Pang.

During this period, his family members left Shandong Province to look for him. His father-in-law came from Northeast China to demand his release. Police officers kept asking why his wife did not come. They also said that they could only give the list of items to his wife. When his father-in-law challenged the officers by asking why they arrested Mr. Pang, and asked them to produce relevant legal grounds associated with his arrest, those police officers simply told him that it was none of his business.

The lawyer has demanded the list of confiscated items many times, and he received the same reply each time. Police officers even said to his lawyer: “We would appreciate it, if you can help us find his wife." No one understood why they were so anxious to see Mr. Pang's wife.

Mr. Pang's wife has been depressed. She was subjected to three years and three months detention herself, and was terrified on the night of the arrest. She misses her husband very much, and knows he is innocent, but is very fearful of the CCP. She worries about his safety every day.

Mr. Pang is a good person, he believes in “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance”. All of his family members have been appealing to the CCP to stop the persecution towards good people and give people their right to freedom of belief.