Illegal Detention and Imprisonment
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Falun Gong Practitioner Wei Danqun of Shanhaiguan Sent To Prison in Critical Condition
2008-08-27Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wei Danquan was arrested, put on trial twice and finally sentenced to four years of imprisonment. Even though Wei Danquan has appealed this sentence, he was sent to Jidong Prison in Tangshan City. Wei Danquan is an ex-army officer stationed at the Shanhaiguan Airport. He was suspended from his duties for practising Falun Gong. He has been persecuted many times. He was arrested, detained, tortured with torture devices and sentenced to imprisonment. He has been monitored, and his house was ransacked and property confiscated. The constant persecution throughout the years caused his health to deteriorate. -
Chinese Communist Party Officials in Wanquan County, Hebei Province Aggressively Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners
2008-08-26Government officials in Wanquan County, Hebei Province have implicated Falun Gong practitioners in the name of "Olympic security." Each town, township and village is monitoring practitioners within their area. Officials have also broken into the homes of practitioners and individuals who had read Falun Gong books before the persecution began in 1999. The government officials forced them to sign their names, took their fingerprints and confiscated their identification cards. These agents threatened to hold a brainwashing session for those practitioners who didn't cooperate with them. -
Weifang City Practitioner Cao Junping and Her Husband Detained
2008-08-26On July 29th, 2008, Ms. Cao Junping and her husband were arrested and sent to a detention centre. Previously, in January 2000, Ms. Cao and eight other practitioners were doing the Falun Gong exercises at the city square. For that, they were arrested by the police and detained in a 9-square-foot cell. There they were beaten by a group of thugs led by the Weifang City mayor. The thugs asked "Do you still want to practise Falun Gong?" Ms. Cao firmly answered, "Yes!" As a result, she was beaten with spiked wooden clubs, shocked with electric batons, and dragged on the floor by her hair. Ms. Cao's entire body was in pain. One of her front teeth also fell out. The authorities made her husband pay 2000 yuan before they released her. -
70-year-old Mr. Chen Yunchuan Detained Again After Losing Four Family Members in the Persecution
2008-08-25Mr. Chen Yunchuan, 70, is a practitioner from Hebei Province. All six members of his family are practitioners, and four of them have died as a result of the persecution. Recently, Mr. Chen was arrested again at his home. The oldest son, Mr. Chen Aizhong, was sentenced to three years of forced labour and died at the Hehuakeng Forced Labour Camp in Tangshan City on September 20th, 2001. The youngest daughter, Ms. Chen Hongping, was sentenced to forced labour after both of her legs were broken during a beating. She died at the Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp on March 5th, 2003. The youngest son, Mr. Chen Aili, was tortured to the verge of death at the Jidong Prison in Tangshan City. He passed away on November 5th, 2004. -
High School Teacher Ms. Liu Yurong Arrested and Put On Trial
2008-08-25Ms. Liu Yurong is a practitioner from Linghai City, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province. On May 29th, 2008 she and her sister were arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police for practising Falun Gong. They were held captive for a month until they were put on trial on July 28th. The court in Linghai City is controlled entirely by Communist Party members. Ms. Liu Yurong denied all of the court's accusations against her. One lawyer asked her whether she wanted to hire a lawyer. To that question Ms. Liu Yurong answered, "If you can enter a plea of 'innocent' for me, I will hire you. If you cannot, there is no need to even talk about it." In the end the trial concluded without any result. -
Recent Arrests of at Least Twenty Practitioners in Tangshan City
2008-08-25On July 6th the home of practitioner Zhao Jinjun was ransacked and he was arrested. This was the fourth time Mr. Zhao was arrested by police. During this latest arrest, the police not only kicked Mr. Zhao's 3-year-old son but they also called the young child a "b*****d." The police sprayed mace into the eyes of Mr. Zhao's 10-year-old son, Yang Yang, and Mr. Zhao's mother who is in her 60's. Yang Yang could not open his eyes after being sprayed and rushed to the sink to wash his eyes with water. Even after doing so, his eyes remained red and painful for the entire afternoon. -
Despite Lack of Evidence, Four Falun Gong Practitioners Put on Trial in Zunhua City
2008-08-24On July 25th, 2008, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Qiang, 36 , who is a resident in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was arrested by Zunhua City Domestic Security Division. He was taken to the Zunhua Detention Centre to be incarcerated and subsequently transferred to the Procuratorate. After being held for 8 days, without any evidence of having committed a crime, the Zunhua Procuratorate held a secret trial on four Falun Gong practitioners, including Li Qiang and Zhao Jingjun. -
Older Ms. Chai Shuzhen Arrested Again for Telling People about the Persecution of Falun Gong
2008-08-24On July 21st, 2008 Chai Shuzhen, in her 60s, was arrested again for distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and sent to the Tangshan Forced Labour Camp on the 26th for a two-year term. In a previous detention a guard found her practising Falun Gong. The head of the detention centre had her handcuffed to a chair and ordered two guards to insert a tube into her through her nose to force feed her with an unknown drug. Liu said, "The reason you do the Falun Gong exercises is because you want to heal yourself. So we are going to give you medicine." After this torture, her stomach hurt and she could not eat more than half of a bowl of rice at each meal. -
An Impoverished Farmer Arrested after Making a Donation to the Sichuan Earthquake Crisis
2008-08-24Mr. Yin Zemin is a Falun Gong practitioner from Hebei Province. When he learned of the recent 7.9-magnitude earthquake, he consulted with his family, then donated 500 yuan (which was a portion of the money the family saved for his father's medical care) to the devastated area relief efforts. However, Yin Zemin's kindness was rewarded instead with a search and seizure. On June 6th, 2008, Mr. Yin was arrested by officers from the Yongyang Town police station. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officers declared that practitioners do not have money, therefore, someone with the resources to donate 500 yuan must be a "Falun Gong coordinator." On July 1st, he was taken to the Baoding Forced Labour Camp. -
Eleven Falun Gong Practitioners in Lingyuan City Arrested
2008-08-24On July 19th, eleven Falun Gong practitioners went to Taohuachi village in Liaoning province, to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. Armed police officers arrested them and took them to the Pingfangzi police station. After they arrived at the police station, one of Falun Gong practitioners, Yun Guolin, was shot twice by police as he tried to escape. He was then handcuffed and beaten with electric batons, rubber clubs, fists, and foot kicks. The police also tortured the other ten practitioners with the electric batons and rubber clubs. All the while, police verbally belittled the Falun Gong practitioners. They were not allowed to eat, drink, or use the toilet. -
Elderly Women Visiting a Neighbour Arrested for "Unlawful Assembly" in Beijing
2008-08-23A group of a dozen police officers and officials went to the home of Ms. Zhang, an elderly Falun Gong practitioner in Chaoyang District, Beijing, on July 29th. They verbally abused her and ransacked her home. Three other practitioners, Ms. Zhai Shutian, 61; Ms. Han Ming, 62; and Ms. Zhou Liyan, 55, were visiting Ms. Zhang at the time. The police arrested them on grounds of "unlawful assembly." The three women are Ms. Zhang's friends and neighbours who are also residents of Chaoyang District. How could a few elderly women visiting a friend be construed as "unlawful assembly"? Were they really committing a crime? -
Unjust Trials for Several Falun Gong Practitioners at the Jiamusi Court
2008-08-23Police arrested 26-year-old Ma Duo and sentenced her to three years in prison on May 23 , 2008. Her family got the notice on June 6th. Ma Duo and her family sent an appeal to a higher court and retained a Beijing lawyer to defend her. When her relative went to the Jiamusi Intermediate Court to go through normal trial procedure, more than ten officers from the Domestic Security division arrested four of her family members and his relatives in the presence of the lawyer. It is said the purpose of the arrest was to trace the person who hired the lawyer from Beijing. -
Zhang Zongquan Persecuted and His Home Ransacked in Fengrun, Tangshan
2008-08-22On July 10th, 2008, police broke into the home of Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Zongyuan. Without showing any ID, they ransacked his home, confiscating a motorcycle. Zhang Zongquan is unable to return home, as further persecution would be the almost certain result. In 1999, Zhang Zongquan went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, but was arrested. Police handcuffed his hands onto the edge of the bed, forced him to kneel down, and kicked him fiercely. In the 610 Office policemen beat practitioners' legs with lengths of wood, even attacking their faces. In the Fengrun Detention Centre policemen tortured practitioners with 'Deadly Strings.' 'Deadly Strings,' is to tie the hands behind the back, tie the whole body, and then hang it up. Generally, people become permanently handicapped within fifteen minutes from this torture. -
Crimes Committed by the Yongji County Police Department, Jilin Province, in the Lead up to the Olympic Games
2008-08-20The Yongji County Political and Judiciary Committee, the 610 Office, the local police department, the State Security Division, and police officers from the Chengnan, Chengbei, and Chengxi police departments, all took part in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. The police arrested Mr. Zhu Yeguang, Ms. Sun Xiaomei, and Ms. Zhang Fengrong. Mr. Zhu and Ms. Sun were detained for fifteen days. After police extorted 10,000 and 20,000 yuan from them, respectively, they were released. Ms. Zhang's family is very poor; they barely have enough to eat. Yet, State Security Division chief, Wang Shuxiang, told them: "If you have money, we'll release Ms. Li, otherwise we'll send her to a forced labour camp." -
Retired Senior Engineer from Handan Steel Company Arrested Again
2008-08-20Retired senior engineer Qin Zhongke, 65, and his wife were arrested on July 15th, 2008 by police officers. Mr. Qin Zhongke is being detained in the No. 1 Detention Centre in Handan City. His wife has been released. previously, Mr. Qin Zhongke was detained in Handan Labour Camp. From July 2nd to 23rd, 2002, Mr. Qin was deprived of sleep, was forced to stand for long periods of time under the baking sun, and was forced to stand day and night. His legs and feet became extremely swollen, he could not walk and he became very weak. In order to stop the brutal persecution, he began a hunger strike. He was force-fed several times, and his family had to pay the bill. The guards shouted: "Even if you pretend to be 'transformed,' you still have to write the 'repentance statement' before you can go to sleep."