A Call for the Rescue of My College Classmate, Mr. Cong Zhongxiao

By an Overseas Dafa Practitioner

Mr. Cong Zhongxiao was my former classmate at the Dalian Science and Technology University.

In October 2002, I heard that he had been arrested, but after that I lost contact with him. Later on, I learnt from his classmates and friends about his situation.

Mr. Cong Zhongxiao is 39 years old and received his master's degree from the Dalian Science and Technology University. Before 1999, he had worked for the Dalian City Beida Vehicle Limited Company for six years and had been a deputy general manager. He started practising Falun Dafa in 1997. Mr. Cong is an honest and kind person and is always willing to help others. After practising Falun Gong, he set strict requirements for himself, cared less for his personal gains or losses, and was more compassionate toward others. His moral standard and working ability were well recognised by others. Among our classmates, he was one of the most outstanding students.

In 1999, the vicious persecution against Falun Gong started. In order to avoid bringing trouble to his work unit, Mr. Cong resigned voluntarily and thus became jobless. During the following year, even though he is an outstanding worker with strong skills, because he practised Falun Gong, many work units dared not hire him. In the fall of 2000, he finally found a job in a privately owned company. After just over a month, the company was ready to promote him to a very important position. The National Day was fast approaching by this time. In order to validate Dafa, he took a vacation and went to Beijing.

During his several days in Beijing, he posted flyers to clarify the truth to people and expose the evil persecution. Later, he was arrested near the residential area of the Beijing Normal University. He was detained in the local police station and was interrogated. His personal identification was also seized. He left the police station right in front of many policemen while they were having dinner and returned to Dalian city. In order not to involve his family and keep his family from worrying about him, he rented a house and lived away from home. He then immediately set about helping to clarify the truth of Falun Gong to people.

During this period when Cong Zhongxiao was away from home, another classmate of ours saw him on the street. It was a chilly day. He wore thin clothes and appeared to be a little tired, but he showed unshakable faith in Dafa and great optimism toward the future, which really shocked the non-practitioner classmate and left her with an unforgettable impression.

On December 17, 2000, police from the Lingshuizhen Police Station of Jingzi District in Dalian City waited near his home arrested him again. Supposedly, the reason was that they found truth-clarification materials in his bag.

During the month after his arrest, Cong Zhongxiao's parents looked all over for him. He was their only son. No matter how much they pleaded, the local policemen refused to tell the elderly couple his whereabouts. The couple were so worried that their hair quickly turned gray and they felt physically and mentally exhausted. One month later, the Yaojia Detention Centre of Dalian City called his family to ask for money. Only then did his family find out that he had been detained in the Yaojia Detention Centre; however, his family was still not allowed to visit him.

Because Cong Zhongxiao refused to write any pledges to denounce Dafa in the detention Centre and because he insisted that he did nothing wrong by validating Dafa, he was regarded as a steadfast practitioner and received heavy punishment. In the Yaojia Detention Centre, a notoriously evil place in Dalian City, he was never allowed to see any visitors. We never found out exactly what kind of torture he had been through. Later, his family was informed that he was officially arrested since he did not give up his belief and since he "escaped" during his detention in Beijing. On July 26, 2001, he was tried in court. That day, his parents and family members all came to the court. Cong Zhongxiao insisted that he had done nothing wrong by practising Falun Gong and by striving to be a good person. In the end, he received a heavy sentence of three years in jail despite the lack of legal grounds. At that time, he was the only practitioner to receive a jail sentence besides Gao Qiuju, the former voluntary assistant in Dalian. After being sentenced to jail, his wife was put under great pressure and was subjected to lies from the authorities. She then divorced Cong Zhongxian.

Thus, Cong Zhongxiao was forced to leave his young daughter and aged parents, and was put in jail just because he refused to give up practising Falun Gong.

Currently Cong Zhongxiao is detained in the 12th Division of the Second Prison (Dabei Prison) of Shenyang, Liaoning Province. It was said that upon arriving there, he went on hunger strike three times to protest the illegal detention and sentencing. He refused to cooperate with any orders from the police and was almost tortured to death. He became emaciated. Because he refused to renounce his faith, he was once sent to the 6th Division, where the detainees were mostly criminals with heavy sentences

In the jail, it was reported that he was forced to go through brainwashing sessions every morning and made to work in the afternoon and evening. However, he was always firm in his belief and refused to compromise. Due to the 16th Party Congress, his family was deprived of their visiting rights.

As a classmate of Cong Zhongxiao, I hereby strongly implore the governments of all countries, international organisations, and all the kind-hearted people, to extend your help to stop Jiang's political gang's brutal persecution against Falun Gong and allow Cong Zhongxiao and other Falun Gong practitioners in China to regain their freedom. Please help their families to end the waiting and longing as soon as possible and reunite.

Phone number of the Dabei Prison: 011-86-24-8809-2474 page Division #12