Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhao Yongcai from Shulan City, Jilin Province is still being illegally detained in the Nanshan Detention Center, and his prison term has been extended by nine months. We have learned that Zhao Yongcai has launched a hunger strike to protest this persecution and that his life is in danger.

On May 11, 2006, the Police Department of Shulan City and police officers from the National Security Group illegally broke into Mr. Zhao Yongcai's home and took him to the office of the National Security Group. They then proceeded to punch and kick him. They also wrapped several layers of plastic bags around Mr. Zhao Yongcai's head, causing him to lose consciousness and almost suffocating him. They poured mustard oil into his nose, causing severe headaches, damage to his lungs and swelling of his nose. He was taken to a forced labor camp, which refused to accept him because he was too seriously injured. However, the officers still refused to release him because they were planning to extort bribes from him. Mr. Zhao Yongcai was illegally taken to the forced labor camp again on January 12, 2007. He was rejected again when a medical examination showed that he had heart disease.

Ever since Mr. Zhao Yongcai was taken away, his elderly mother has become dependent on medication. Our latest information is that Mr. Zhao Yongcai was protesting his treatment by going on hunger strike and that his life is in danger. His mother and wife went to the Police Department to ask for information on January 19, 2007. However, the director of the Law and Order Section lied to them and said that he would resolve the issue on the following Monday. On January 22, his mother and wife went to see Xin He (male), the Chief of the Police Department, to ask for information again. Xin He immediately asked, "Are you Falun Gong practitioners?" He ordered two policemen to illegally search them and get their names and addresses, and then they took them to the local police station. The policemen ransacked their home, looking for evidence to further harass the family, but the search produced nothing. Mr. Zhao Yongcai's wife has now fallen ill as a result of everything that has happened.

59-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Shangshi was a college-educated manager at the Panjin Forest Products Company in Liaoning Province. Mr. Li was arrested on two occasions for practicing Falun Gong. The first time, he was illegally sentenced to prison for three years, and served his sentence from September 24, 1999 to March 27, 2003. On April 20, 2004, Mr. Li was again illegally sentenced, this time to fourteen years in prison. He was incarcerated in the 4th Ward of Qingtaizi Prison in Fushun, Liaoning Province.

Li Shangshi was forced into homelessness after his first detention. On April 20, 2004, while he rode his bicycle along the Liao River Bridge, two police officers suddenly sprang from hiding and illegally arrested him. Mr. Li shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!"

The officers covered his mouth and forced him into a waiting jeep. Mr. Li was taken to the Shuantaizi Police Station, where he was dragged to the second floor and kicked in the face. Officer Wang Fangxiao, one of the policemen who arrested Mr. Li, lied by saying, "We were ordered by the provincial office to grab some information."

Then he dragged Mr. Li back to the jeep and took him to the Panjin Detention Center. Detention center personnel required legal documents for Mr. Li, but Officer Wang Fanxiao told them, "We'll take care of it later."

The detention officer made no further objection, and Li Shangshi was detained in a small room. A detention officer named Zhang asked, "How can we hold him without the necessary legal documents?"

Three days later Lian Jie and another young man from the National Security Detachment of the city police deparment came to interrogate Mr. Li in preparation for the illegal trial. Initially they feigned kindness and understanding, but when Mr. Li refused to cooperate with them they showed their true colors. They grabbed his hair and punched him in the face, then hit his chest, causing Mr. Li to fall to the floor. Mr. Li shouted and Lian Jie stopped. The next day Li Guohua and another officer from the city police came for another round of interrogation. Mr. Li said only one sentence while they were there. He told them, "The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] never uses legal methods to deal with Falun Gong cases, so I refuse to answer any of your questions."

He gave them the same statement in writing for their records. After that the police gave up on trying to force a confession from Mr. Li, and instead fabricated evidence against him, which they presented to the Xinglongtai District Court.

In September Xinglongtai District Court was ready to try Li Shangshi. They assigned a man and a woman to defend him. Mr. Li asked them, "Do you intend to have me plead guilty or not guilty?"

The female lawyer said, "Of course you'll plead guilty."

Mr. Li replied, "The trial has already begun, but they haven't even conducted an investigation, and have no evidence against me. How can you assume that I'm guilty?"

She said, "The government has made the practice of Falun Gong illegal, so you must be guilty."

From that statement alone the injustice of the legal process is fully displayed. The CCP wants to persecute people, and they don't bother with the rules of evidence to do it. The CCP's laws are solely for the protection of the party, and are merely tools used to persecute people. Even the defense lawyers are pawns of the CCP. In order to deceive the people, courts of law conduct sham trials.

The next day, Li Shangshi refused to be represented by the lawyers whom the court had assigned. At the arraignment, Inspector Pei Guangyan gave false testimony to justify the so-called legal procedure. Later Judge Ma Li (a woman also known as Ma Dahei or Ma Dachi), who has accepted bribes and is an active participant in the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, began the unlawful trial against Mr. Li Shangshi. Mr. Li exposed and denied all of their lies. Ma Li realized that Li Shangshi wasn't going to cooperate with the sham in any way. She ordered the bailiff to remove his chair so he'd have to stand, but Mr. Li just sat in a different chair, and the bailiffs finally returned the chair. Mr. Li continued to clarify the truth, so Ma Li rushed to deliver her verdict. She said that Mr. Meng Jian (another Falun Gong practitioner) had been sentenced to thirteen years, and since Mr. Li was Meng Jian's "boss," he should receive an even longer sentence. Then she declared the trial complete. The next day she delivered a guilty verdict against Mr. Li Shangshi and sentenced him to fourteen years in prison.

Mr. Meng Jian was arrested in May 2003. Though both Mr. Li and Mr. Meng are Falun Gong practitioners, they had no contact with each other, simply living in the same town. However, because Mr. Li Shangshi was a local coordinator, the court used that as an excuse to prosecute him as the leader of an "illegal organization." The CCP authorities didn't bother to make a public announcement of the trial or notify Mr. Li's family, they only let Xinglongtai District National Security officers, including Zhang Runqiu and a few other police officers attend the show trial. It was only after Li Shangshi was sent to prison that his family was informed of his whereabouts.

Mr. Li Shangshi refused to cooperate with his persecutors, and he refused to wear a prison uniform or allow his head to be shaved. Every day while the prisoners sat on a bench or when the authorities came to inspect the jail Mr. Li stood apart from the rest. He also refused to memorize and recite the prison rules, pose for a prison mug shot or let the perpetrators take his fingerprint. For five months he conducted a hunger strike in protest, and he practiced the Falun Gong exercises every morning.

On September 28, 2004, Mr. Li Shangshi and two other practitioners from Huludao were taken away to the 2nd Jail of Wushun. Currently ten practitioners are still jailed in Qingtaizi Prison, Fushun City. 

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/2/4/148227.html