Prior to the large earthquake in Sichuan Province, there was an earthquake in Pan County, Guizhou Province, in early May 2008. When practitioners gathered to aid other practitoners who were victims of the quake, they were arrested and their funds and possessions confiscated. The reason given was that donations made by Falun Gong practitioners for the earthquake victims are considered an illegal activity and all the donated money and donor's personal belongings must be confiscated by the city police department.
Beijing practitioner Ms. Xu Na, 40, a well-known painter, is the wife of Mr. Yu Zhou, a Chinese folk singer who died earlier this year alledgedly as a result of police torture. She is resolutely pursuing an investigation of her husband's death. Authorites are reluctant to release her or to give her a trial to justify her detention, for fear of the resulting publicity.
Falun Gong Practitioners Are Beaten, Robbed and Arrested by Police in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province
Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. He Meixian and her family have been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999, when the persecution of Falun Gong began. Ms. He's family members have been beaten to death by police, her home has been decimated, and her life made extremely difficult due to the persecution. Prior to the large earthquake in Sichuan Province, there was an earthquake in Pan County, Guizhou Province, in early May 2008. This earthquake damaged Ms. He Meixians house. After this news got out, practitioners in Guiyang City went to visit her at her temporary home near Erqiao Vegetable Market in Guiyang City.
On May 8, these kind-hearted visitors, along with Ms. He Meixian, were all arrested by surveillance police officers from the 1st Section of Guiyang City Police Department. The money which was to be donated to the elderly victims was taken by the police, and even their personal money and belongings were looted by the police. The practitioners were beaten, arrested and illegally detained. According to witnesses, practitioner Mr. Song Bangfu was beaten until his face was unrecognizable. He had wounds everywhere, and his belt, along with handcuffs and rope, were used to tie his hands together. The handcuffs cut into his flesh and caused bleeding. He was beaten by seven or eight police officers from Touqiao Station and the 1st Section of Guiyang City Police Department.
Ms. He Meixian and her family continued to practice Falun Gong throughout these years. Her oldest son, Mr. Xu Guangdao, was beaten to death by the police when he went to Beijing to appeal in 2000. Ms. He's husband went to Beijing to search for his son and lost his memory after he was poisoned by the police. Her second son, Mr. Xu. Qihua, her daughter-in-law, and son-in-law were illegally detained, leaving only Ms. He Meixian and a number of very young grandchildren behind to take care of each other.
On April 10, 2008, the Guiyang City Court illegally sentenced three practitioners, including her son Mr. Xu Qihua. Ms. He made a very difficult decision and was forced to abandon her husband, who couldn't take care of himself after the CCP's torture, and her ten grandchildren. She buried the pain of recently losing a twelve year-old grandson and went to the province capital city Guiyang to appeal to the 610 Office and the judicial member involved in her son's case. She hoped that they would release her son as soon as possible, but her son has still not returned.
The practitioners who visited Ms. He Meixian on May 8-9 included Li Donghong's younger brother Mr. Li Hongyu, Mr. Song Bangfu, and Mr. Liu Yi'an, all of whom were arrested by the surveillance police. At least eight practitioners were arrested, and many were subjected to inhuman group beatings by the police officers. Practitioner Ms. Su Xueli from Xishui County, who is Ms. He Meixian's house mate, went to the city to look for a job, and was also arrested after the police severely beat her.
In order to protest the persecution and illegal detention, Mr. Song Bangfu is holding a hunger strike, and has not eaten anything since his arrest on May 8. This is very urgent, as his situation is very serious. Mr. Song Bangfu is currently still illegally detained in the 2nd Detention Center of Lannigou in Guiyang City. Mr. Song Bangfu always thinks of others first in all his actions. He is publicly recognized as a good young man. He was illegally sent to a forced labor camp for three years because he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He was severely tortured by guards while in the 8th Labor Camp in Guizhou City, and he was once deprived of sleep for a week. He went on a week-long hunger strike to protest the persecution, and the police used a tube to force-feed and torture him. The police purposely picked a very thick tube and inserted it into his nose. In order to torture him, they pulled the tube back and forth several times, which punctured his esophagus. When the tube was removed it came out with a lot of blood.
Mr. Song Bangfu is the breadwinner in the family and no one else has an income sufficient to support the family. His mother is over eighty years old and needs care, his older brother has one arm disabled and has no ability to support the family, his older sister and brother-in-law are both in prison and his sister's son is in middle school. The arrest of Mr. Song dealt the entire family a very heavy blow.
On May 8, Mr. Song Bangfu was driving his new car, which his family borrowed money to buy. The car was used to buy some goods to do business, and Mr. Song planned to complete the new car registration the next day. On his way home, he decided to visit Ms. He Meixian, but he didn't know that her house had been ransacked. Mr. Song was arrested and beaten by the surveillance police. Police officers from the 1st Section of the Guiyang City Police Department robbed Mr. Song of nearly ten thousand yuan, which he had borrowed to do business. The police stole his savings account booklet, his new car and the goods in the car.
Mr. Song Bangfu's mother, who is over 80 years old, went to the police station to ask them to release her son and return the car, money and personal belongings, but the police refused her. The reason given was that donations made by Falun Gong practitioners for the earthquake victims are considered illegal activity. She was told that all the donated money and donor's personal belongings must be confiscated by the city police department.
The units involved in this persecution included the Erqiao Resident Committee, Touqiao Police Station, the 1st Secition of the City Police Department, and the city 610 Office.
People who joined the beatings included most personnel from Touqiao Police Station, and the 1st Section of the City Police Department, including Ji Lin, Shen Yulin, Huang Boping, and Zhang Hongqin.
Ms. Xu Na, Wife of a Musician Killed By CCP, Transferred to Another Detention Center in Beijing
In early May 2008, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Xu Na was transferred to Chongwen District Detention Center in Beijing. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials filed her case through the Procuratorate, and are ready to put her on trial. Xu's family has hired a lawyer to defend her. We have learned that the police did not find any evidence for their show-trial in Ms. Xu's home, nor did they find any in her vehicle. Under normal circumstances, she should be released. The CCP was worried that she would protest her husband's death by torture, so they transferred her and arranged to put her on trial.
Beijing practitioner Ms. Xu Na, 40, is a well-known painter. Her husband, Mr. Yu Zhou, was a well-known Chinese folk singer, tortured to death by the police during the Chinese New Year celebration this year. Ms. Xu Na is currently being illegally imprisoned in Chongwen District Detention Center in Beijing. Her trial has been put on hold because the CCP is afraid of international attention being focused on her and her husband. Ms. Xu has overcome many difficulties to appeal for justice in the case of her husband's death while in prison.
At around 10:00 p.m. on January 26, 2008, Mr. Yu Zhou was driving home with his wife after one of his performances. The police stopped their car for an "Olympics Search" in Yangzhuang Village, Beiyuan neighborhood, Tongzhou District in Beijing. When the police learned that they were Falun Gong practitioners, they arrested them and took them to the Tongzhou District Detention Center.
At around 9:00 a.m. the next day, four police officers from Beiyuan Police Station, Tongzhou District Police Branch, Xiangshan Police Station, and Haidian District Police Branch ransacked Ms. Xu's parents' home, but did not find anything. They subsequently ransacked Ms. Xu's sister's home. They stole the printer paper from a desk when they did not find a computer.
On February 6, one day before the Chinese Near Year, Mr. Yu Zhou was tortured to death at the age of 42. His family demanded an autopsy, but the results were never given to them. The detention center authorities did not even allow Ms. Xu Na to attend his funeral.
The attorney hired by Ms. Xu Na's parents informed Ms. Xu of the death of her husband. Ms. Xu Na has now filed an appeal with the Procuratorate regarding the death of her husband. She is demanding an investigation to determine who is legally responsible, and is requesting the rights to the funeral matters for Mr. Yu Zhou. The government is now attempting to fabricate excuses by first transferring her to another detention center, and then having her put on trial.