Name: Qi Xiuchun (齐秀春)
Gender: Female
Age: 55
Address: Beixing Nongken Farm, Boli County, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 12, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Wang Village Brainwashing Center (山东淄博王村洗脑班)
City: Zibo
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Detention
(Minghui.org) On May 21, 2012, the Minghui website published the article “What Exactly Are the Police Authorities from Weihai City, Shandong Province Trying to Hide?” which reports that practitioner Ms. Wang Diansong, in her seventies, was beaten to death and the witness, Ms. Qi Xiuchun, is currently being detained. After the report was published, through channels such as text messaging, phone calls, letters, blog feeds and Internet forums, people demanded that the Weihai Gao District police track down the murderers and release Ms. Qi. The Shandong Province General Office of Public Security and Weihai City Police Department demanded that officers from Weihai Gao District Police Department solve the case as soon as possible.
Ms. Qi Xiuchun
However, the police from Weihai Gao District have harassed and threatened Ms. Wang's and Ms. Qi's family members, and attempted to frame Ms. Qi for the murder by fabricating reports.
Ms. Qi was arrested on the night of May 12, on suspicion of causing injury. When Ms. Qi's daughter heard the news, she traveled to Weihai City on May 17 and went to the Gao District Police Department. She showed the officers there her identification and tried to learn more about what had happened. The police refused to give any information and demanded that she take a blood test to prove her identity, which she did the same day. During the following two weeks, she went back to the Gao District Police Department several times inquiring about the test results. However, the officers there told her that the test results hadn't come out yet. It was not until she got officers from the police department in her hometown to send proof of her household registration, identity and kinship to Ms. Qi, that they accepted that she was the daughter of Ms. Qi.
On June 4, after several inquiries, the lawyer hired by Ms. Qi's daughter finally received the detention notice sent by the Gao District Police Department and finally became legally involved in the case. However, he has still not been allowed to see Ms. Qi in person.
When Ms. Qi's 30-day detention period ended on June 11, her lawyer went to the police department to make some inquiries, wanting to know whether the investigation stage of the case had concluded, whether the case files had been submitted to the Procuratorate, and whether a decision had been made to release Ms. Qi due to insufficient evidence. The police replied by saying that Ms. Qi had already been taken to the Wang Village Brainwashing Center in Zibo City, and that the starting date of this detention was June 4.
The Wang Village Brainwashing Center, also known as the Shandong Province Legal Training Center, is a subsidiary body of the notorious Wang Village Forced Labor Camp. Many practitioners have died there as a result of torture, or have become physically or mentally disabled.
With regards to the case, a witness had said that at around 10 p.m. on May 12, near the Weihai Professional Institute, Chucun Town in the High-tech Industrial Development District (the Gao District), they saw two women surrounded by three police cars. The older woman Ms. Wang Diansong was lying on the ground and Ms. Qi Xiuchun was kneeling nearby and shouting for help.
According to local Falun Gong practitioners, on the night of May 12, Ms. Wang and Ms. Qi went to a college in Chucun Town to hang a banner celebrating “May 13 World Falun Dafa Day.” By doing so, they hoped to let people know that Falun Dafa is good. However, in the report submitted by Weihai Gao District Police Department to the Shandong Province General Office of Public Security, Ms. Qi was said to be suspected of committing murder. In response to Ms. Wang's family's strong demands, the police issued a vaguely worded evaluation report to the victim’s family. After the report had been issued, the police requested that Ms. Wang's family members cremate her body as soon as possible.
The police from Weihai Gao District are supposed to submit the case files to the Procuratorate before proceeding with the prosecution. However, Ms. Qi was taken straight to Wang Village Brainwashing Center, which is a thousand miles away from Weihai City. This approach is very unusual in terms of handling the case and following legal procedures. When Ms. Wang's family went to the police department one time, Gong Benfeng, the police commander at Gao District Police Department, shouted at them, “There are tons of murders that cannot be solved. Don't you come back here again!”
Those responsible for the persecution:
Gong Benfeng, police commander at Gao District Police Department
Liu Jiandang
Wang Feng
