Dissected Prisoner Among Three Latest Falun Gong Deaths

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 10/16/2001 [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]

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NEW YORK, October 16, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) - A man who was dissected for the possible purpose of harvesting his organs, and a suspicious "suicide" are among the three latest deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

A male Falun Gong practitioner, name unknown, late 30's, from the Laiwu area of Shandong province, was beaten to death mid-August 2001. The doctor who examined the body at the county hospital reported that the body was dissected, the suspected purpose of which was to harvest internal organs for sale on the black market. The details are yet to be investigated. This occurred at the Yanggu County, Shandong Province 610 Office and Public Security Bureau. Since July 1999, he is at least the 52nd practitioner to die at the hands of authorities in Shandong Province, where the persecution numbers and ill treatment are high.

Ms. Zhang Linxian, 53, from Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province, was reported to have jumped from a building on September 30. As with other so-called "suicides," there are a number of discrepancies and questionable points that deserve further investigation. Ms. Zhang, who later changed her name to Zhang Lin, lived in the Number 42 building in Wenhua District, Zhaoyuan City. In approximately July 2001, Zhang Lin was illegally detained by Zhaoyuan City police and sent to a "Conversion Class" in Linglong Town, Zhaoyuan City. After forty to fifty days of brainwashing she still refused to be "converted," and in early September, she was sent to Wangcun Labor Camp for a 2-year term. There was no contact between Ms. Zhang and her family until September 28, when the camp notified her husband that Zhang felt ill and needed him to take her home immediately, which he did the next day, accompanied by police. No one besides police and the husband saw Zhang Lin's condition. Early on September 30, the news about Zhang jumping out of the building came out, and the body was cremated the next day.

Ms. Zhang was likely beaten to death while in custody, sources say, and the officials threatened and bribed her husband to go along with the story. Among the suspicious points are the fact that, rather than sending Ms. Zhang directly for emergency treatment when she became "critically ill," officials called the family to pick her up. Also, Zhang's husband claimed that police released Zhang in order for her to spend the Moon festival holiday at home. Among the many practitioners that have been sent to labor camp, even some who have been "converted," none were given leave to spend time with family at holidays, so his story is suspect on several points. There were some discrepancies noted on who discovered the death and when, as well. It is worth repeating that Falun Gong considers killing wrong and suicide to be a sin.

When a reporter called the PSB in Zhaoyuan to ask about the cause of Zhang's death, the policeman who answered the phone said "it would need to be checked."

In the third death recently reported, Jin Junjie from Changchun City, Jilin Province was tortured to death by police in Chaoyanggou Labor Camp in Changchun City, where he had been sentenced. The date of death is as yet unknown, as police had incorrectly told other prisoners that Jin had been sent home. More details will be reported as they become available.

A policeman in Chaoyanggou Labor Camp told a reporter asking about this case that "The head and the vice head of the camp are both gone. This matter cannot be taken care of by anyone."

The total verified dead in the Chinese regime's campaign of terror now stands at 300, although government sources admit that well over 1,000 have actually perished.

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