Mr. Xie Wangming in Critical Condition Due to Torture in Wuling Prison

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Xie Wangming is currently in critical condition due to severe torture in the Wuling Prison of Hunan Province. Recently, prison officials called his family and told them to visit Mr. Xie. When his family arrived, Mr. Xie could not walk and had to be carried out. He was emaciated and was being given an IV infusion.

Mr. Xie is in his 40s. He was once an air force official. After he retired from the military, he worked as a deputy head of the Xiangtan City Patrol Police, which is attached to the Jiangdong Police Department in Xiangtan City.

On the evening of June 30, 2005, Mr. Xie was illegally arrested by officials from the State Security Bureau and sentenced to 1.5 years of imprisonment for practicing Falun Gong. After he was released in late December 2006, he was dismissed from his job for his belief in Falun Gong.

The second time Mr. Xie was arrested, it was part of the 610 Office's efforts to prosecute a "landmark case." In March 2008, agents from the Xiangtan City 610 Office, the Domestic Security Division and the local police departments arrested more than 10 practitioners. The agents ransacked the homes of these practitioners, detained the practitioners and interrogated them by torture. Subsequently, authorities attempted to try these practitioners in the Xiangtan City Intermediate Court, wanting to create a "landmark case" with charges of "subverting the state." However, their case was rejected by the court multiple times.

A year later, the case was submitted to the Yuhu District Court Procuratorate in Xiangtan City. This court and its Procuratorate held a hearing, sentencing 9 practitioners to imprisonment and releasing 3 practitioners on bail. However, the 610 Office still didn't have the "landmark case" it desired, until more practitioners, including Mr. Xie, were prosecuted.

On January 4, 2009, the Yuhu District Court held a hearing for Mr. Xie and other practitioners. Before transferring Mr. Xie to the court, the guards severely beat him and kicked him to the ground. They then handcuffed his hands behind his back and pulled him into the police vehicle. The whole process was so brutal that some of the other guards in the detention center couldn’t stand by and watch. Mr. Xie was later sentenced to 7.5 years of imprisonment.

While detained in the Wuling Prison, Mr. Xie requested to be released, so that he could go back to work. The guards told him that this could be arranged, as long as he agreed to be "transformed." Mr. Xie refused and insisted on holding on to his belief in Falun Gong. The guards then tortured him with various methods, which rendered him unable to walk.

Perpetrators directly participating in the persecution of Mr. Xie include Wei Wei, Tan Mingzhan, Lei Huji and Hu Jiuhui from the Yuhu District Court; Yi Xuehui, Tu Wenpan and Hou Jun from the Yuhu District Procuratorate; and Chen Shi from the Ministry of State Security. Chen Shi has actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners since 2002, taking numerous practitioners into custody. Wei Wei, head of the Yuhu District Court, is responsible for illegally sentencing Falun Gong practitioners.

Parties involved in the persecution of Mr. Xie:
Zhang Chengfa, Party secretary and head of the Wuling Prison: [phone]
Liu Wanqing, head of the Hunan Province Bureau of Prisons: [phone], [phone], [phone]
Zhou Lidang, head of the Changde City Justice Bureau: [phone], [phone]

Please refer to the original Chinese article for additional parties involved in the persecution.