Name: Chen Baohan (陈宝汉)
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Address: Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province
Occupation: Factory worker
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 10, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Hantai Detention Center (汉台看守所)
City: Hanzhong
Province: Shaanxi
Persecution Suffered: Forced labor, illegal sentencing, fired from workplace, home ransacked, detention
(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Chen Baohan is from Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province. His employment was illegally terminated, so he sued his former employer to get his job back. As a result, he was illegally arrested on September 10, 2012 by Domestic Security Division of Hantai Police Department officers, then sentenced to forced labor camp for eighteen months. Mr. Chen’s family requested a retrial and hired a lawyer to defend his legal rights as a Falun Gong practitioner.
Mr. Chen, 42 years old, lived in Qinlongguan Village, Hantai District, Hanzhong. In May 1988, his family farm was bought out when the Hanzhong Bus Factory expanded. Mr. Chen was then employed at this factory.
Mr. Chen started practicing Falun Gong in 1997, and experienced greater physical health and spiritual wellbeing. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong, Mr. Chen was taken to a forced labor camp twice because he persisted in his belief. In July 2002, Mr. Chen was released from a detention center with injuries covering his body. Hanzhong Bus Factory officials demanded that he write a so-called repentance statement. When Mr. Chen refused, Yue Shaofei, head of the factory and also a CCP secretary then illegally fired Mr. Chen without following standard company procedures nor providing compensation. Later, Yue Shaofei was sent to prison for embezzlement.
After Mr. Chen lost his job and source of income, he made a living doing labor work. Life has been very difficult for him and his family.
In 2012, Mr. Chen filed a lawsuit against the Hanlong Bus Factory according to State Department and Provincial government procedures for illegal termination of employment, and asked to have his job back and compensation for loss of income and mental distress in recent years. In this way, he exercised his rights as a citizen and a worker.
On September 10, 2012, State Security Unit of Hantai Police Department officers arrested Mr. Chen due to his filing suit. Plainclothes officers illegally broke into and searched Mr. Chen’s home without a search warrant. They ransacked his home, even dismantling the electric fans. Later, police went to Mr. Chen’s workplace and arrested him. He was detained beyond legal requirements and then taken to a forced labor camp.
It is outrageous that the legal act of filing a lawsuit to regain one’s job has become a reason for being taken to forced labor camp. This represents another injustice perpetrated by the Hanzhong 610 Office, Hantai State Security Unit, Hanzhong Prison Management Committee and Hantai Detention Center. Mr. Chen's legal suit against Hanzhong Bus Factory is a citizen's constitutional right and therefore protected by China law. However, Mr. Chen’s complaint is not being investigated, yet he was arrested and detained. The officials utilized government agencies to retaliate; they knowingly broke the law and made false accusations against Mr. Chen.
Mr. Chen Baohan is currently being held at the Hantai Detention Center.