After Villagers Oppose the Persecution, Botou Authorities Deceive the Public and Pressure Attorneys

(Minghui.org) The persecution against Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Xiaodong from Botou City has received a great deal of attention inside and outside of China. Three hundred villagers put their fingerprints on a document appealing for justice, and his brother has hired an attorney. All of this has created mounting pressure for the Botou authorities, and they have responded with trickery and pressure.

After the villagers' appeals document was submitted, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Political and Legal Affairs Committee continually applied pressure on the villagers of Zhouguantun Village, Mr. Wang's family members, and his attorney in Beijing. The government organizations in Botou collaborated to prevent the attorneys from being present at the trial for the defense. Without letting the family know, they forcibly dismissed the attorneys and appointed new attorneys. On July 2, the CCP secretary of Fuzhen Township went to Mr. Wang's home with the village officials, looking for Mr. Wang's elder brother to prevent him from hiring attorneys from Beijing. They deceived Mr. Wang's family by saying, “Mr. Wang has a classmate who is an attorney. You should hire him. Then Mr. Wang will be sentenced to only half a year and you can bail him out.” Mr. Wang's family didn't agree and continued to demand the unconditional release of Mr. Wang, his younger sister Wang Fengru (nickname Wang Xiaomei), and Falun Gong practitioner Tang Jianying from Changzhou, who had helped them.

They then went to Mr. Wang's elder sister's home to harass her, and the next morning they went to Zhouguantun Village again. The village official went to Mr. Wang's home, asking Mr. Wang's mother to come to an official's home to meet with people from the town government. Mr. Wang's mother refused to go. At around 9:00 a.m., the village CCP Secretary and accountant went to Mr. Wang's home once again, claiming that they had been pressured by the provincial officials to do so.

At around 8:00 a.m. on July 3, Mr. Wang Junjie received a call from his local government, asking his whereabouts and demanding his return. Mr. Wang Junjie refused and told them, “What's the point of my return if you don't release my brother? If you release him then I'll return.”

We urge those police and 610 Office personnel who are still persecuting Falun Gong practitioners to stop your wrongdoing and change your ways.

Main responsible personnel:
Guo Zhongxuan, secretary of the Fu Town Party Committee: [phone] (office), [phone] (home), [phone] (cell), [phone] (office)
Mayor Zheng Lanhui, mayor of the Fu Town: [phone] (office), [phone] (home)
Director Wang Defu, president of the Botou Court: [phone] (cell)
Ji Guocai, chief of the criminal court: [phone], [phone], [phone] (cell)

Attachment 1: Suing over 20 personnel including police Feng Yabing, Han Yang, Gao Guiqi, and procurator Wu Yanlin of Botou City for extracting confessions with torture

Plaintiff: Wang Xiaodong, male, born in 1972, college graduate, lives at Zhouguantun Village, Fu Town, Botou City, Hebei Province. Currently detained at Botou Detention Center.

Defendant: Feng Yabing, male, deputy chief of First Criminal Brigade of Botou City
Defendant: Han Yang, male, policeman of Botou Police Department
Defendant: Gao Guiqi, male, policeman of Botou City Domestic Security Division
Defendant: Wang Wensheng, male, policeman of Botou City Domestic Security Division
Defendants: Policemen Wang Bingsen, Li Hui, Feng Lei, Zhang Zihai, Han Qingxin, Zhao Zhenguang, Hou Bing, Liu Aijun, Wang Qiang, Wang Haitao, witness Zhou Yinzhong, Cui Xiuling, and director Yang Jianjun of Botou City Police Department
Defendant: Procurators of Botou City Procuratorate Wu Yanlin, Zhao Yun, and chief procurator Li Qin who decided to arrest and prosecute Mr. Wang Xiaodong

Criminal facts:

On the morning of February 25, 2012, over thirty people came to my home to arrest me. They were all in plain clothes and no one showed me any ID or documents. They covered my head with my jacket and forcibly took me to the First Criminal Brigade of Botou City and handed me over to deputy chief Feng Yabing. Starting on that morning, Feng interrogated and tortured me with “turning the telephone.” Feng gave the order and Han Yang executed it. Han Yang tied me to a chair, wrapped my hands with electric wires and turned the manual telephone ringer crank incessantly. Whenever he turned it, an electric current passed through my body. My whole body was numb and I had spasms all over. I was interrogated for the entire day and Han turned the telephone ringer the entire day. Gao Guiqi, the chief of Botou City Domestic Security Division, said, “You have to confess no matter what, otherwise we'll torture you continually.” I could not stand the pain and admitted to distributing truth-clarifying CDs. I also admitted to submitting two articles to the Minghui website. At that time I didn't know who else had been arrested. In order to maintain the safety of others, I admitted to this against my will. Later on I told Gao that I didn't submit those articles. Gao said just let it be, as I had already confessed. I thought that I would raise this issue again when the procurator came to interrogate me, however the Procuratorate never sent out a person to talk with me, but instead directly prosecuted me.

That afternoon when Feng was interrogating me, he said he was going to send me to a detention center for a medical examination, and told me to pay a 200 yuan exam fee. They searched my jacket and found 400 yuan (three 100 yuan bills and some 10 yuan bills.) They stole this money from me. I asked, “Why are you stealing from me?” Feng said, “Once you come here, nothing is yours any longer.” They took all my money and deposited it into a bank account. On the account paper it said 17,800 yuan but I had over 20,000 yuan in cash, including bills wrapped in a newspaper to pay for fertilizer, 3,000 yuan cash in my CD purse, 300 yuan for buying a tree together with a friend, and bills under my accounting book and inside my notebook.

I was taken to the Botou City Detention Center on the afternoon of February 25. However, it wasn't until a few days later that Gao announced my detention and gave me a detention card to sign. It was backdated to February 25.

The above mentioned people committed several crimes by extracting a confession through torture.

 

1. Article 247 of Criminal Law states, “Legal system personnel have committed the crime of extraction by torture if they used torture to extract confessions from suspects or defendants. The Supreme Procuratorate has set the standard for determination of this crime as 'a case can be established if one of the following happens: extracting confession by means of beating, tying-up, illegal use of objects; allowing, inciting, forcing others to carry out the action.' Based on the above, Feng Yabing, Han Yang and Gao Guiqi have committed this crime.

2. Article 3 of Criminal Law explicitly states, “The acts deemed criminal by law shall be prosecuted and punished according to law. Those not deemed criminal shall not be prosecuted and punished.”

The prosecution document against me cited Article 300 of Criminal Law about “sabotaging the implementation of law by utilizing cult organizations” to set up the case, arrest, and put me on trial. However, Article 300 only references superstitious sects and secret societies as cult organizations, and the People's Congress didn't authorize any organization to determine who are considered cult organizations. The Public Security Ministry once determined 14 cult organizations, and Falun Gong was not among them. Prosecution against me based on my Falun Gong practice has no legal basis.

Article 399 of Criminal Law states, “Legal system personnel have committed the crime of 'bending the law for the benefit of relatives or friends' if they knowingly prosecute innocent people or make judgment against facts or legal documents.” The Supreme Procuratorate also set the standard for determination of this crime as “a case can be established if one of the following happens: Knowing that there's no criminal facts, prosecuting or trying a person by means such as forgery, concealing, damaging evidence or hiding facts, etc. …or, while conducting trial, intentionally going against facts and law to make a judgment, such as declaring innocent as guilty, guilty as innocent, severe crime as petty, or a petty crime as severe.”

Based on the above criteria, the legal system personnel handling my case have committed the crime of “bending the law for the benefit of relatives or friends.” Their names are:

Seventeen policemen, including Wang Wensheng, Gao Guiqi, Feng Yabing, Wang Bingsen, Li Hui, Feng Lei, Zhang Zihai, Han Qingxin, Zhao Zhenguang, Hou Bing, Liu Aijun, Han Yang, Wang Qiang, Wang Haitao, witness Zhou Yinzhong, Cui Xiuling, director Yang Jianjun of Botou City Police Department Procurators of Botou City Procuratorate, Wu Yanlin, Zhao Yun, and chief procurator Li Qin, who decided to arrest and prosecute Mr. Wang Xiaodong.

Since the Botou Court has established my case and decided to hold a trial, according to the Supreme Procuratorate guidelines, its responsible personnel may have committed this crime. However, since the court can still turn down this case or declare me innocent, I'm not listing them as defendants at present, but I will add their names to the defendants list if they declare me as guilty.

June 17, 2012

Attachment 2: Suing the director and personnel of Botou Detention Center for mistreating detainees and forcing slave labor

Plaintiff: Wang Xiaodong, male, born in 1972, college graduate, lives at Zhouguantun Village, Fu Town, Botou City, Hebei Province. Currently detained at Botou Detention Center.

Defendant: The director and the personnel of Botou Detention Center who forced detainees to do high intensity labor

Criminal facts:

1. Forcing detainees to do intensive labor for 16 hours per day, with corporal punishment for those who couldn't finish the task.

I was taken to the Botou Detention Center on the afternoon of February 25, 2012 and was forced to do labor the same day. My task was to staple plastic flowers to 70 to 80 wreaths per day. Generally I had to work from 4:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. with a short lunch break. Some people could not finish the task and dared not eat lunch. There were no breaks even on weekends.

The warden physically punished those who could not finish a task. We counted about 70 corporal punishments used. Typical ones included forcing you upside down, striking your hands and feet with hard objects, forcing you to stand still with the top of the head against the door and bent 90 degrees with your body, forcing your head against the bedside, burning with lit cigarettes, putting a stapler between your two fingers and forcing you to turn the stapler, not allowing you to eat or sleep, etc. I was once not allowed to eat, for not finishing my task. Twice I was beaten for doing labor slowly. I reported these incidents to on-duty director Zhang Yong. He replied that these actions were justified. I asked why some people worked slowly without being beaten, and he said that those people deposited more money at the detention center. The inspector came once a month and it was very difficult to catch him and report to him.

Since I was forced to work every day without rest, I became very tired. Very often I would become dizzy when I stood up after squatting down. When I came to the detention center I weighed 150 pounds, but now I weigh only 139 pounds. My fingernails had been worn off from the hard labor. My hands are black and purple, with severe pain, and my fingers are swollen.

2. Very poor meals lacking essential nutrition

Breakfast consists of two buns, corn congee (very dirty and black), and rotten pickles. The lunch is three buns, vegetable soup with carrot leaves, spinach leaves, and celery leaves. Dinner is the same as the breakfast. We are not allowed to buy things with our own money. The wardens took our money to buy cigarettes and food for themselves, and then gave us a little bit of it. They didn't give me the quilt allocated for me, so I could only use a torn quilt.

Article 248 of the Criminal Law states, “The crime of abusing detainees refers to personnel at prison, detention center, labor camps beating up or corporeally punishing detainees.” Article 244 stipulates, “Those who use force, threats, or means of restricting personal freedom to force others to do labor have committed the crime of forcing labor.”

Based on the above mentioned facts and law, the wardens at the Botou City Detention Center have committed the crime of abusing detainees and forcing labor.

The warden's actions severely violated the health and personal freedom of the detainees, and sabotaged the proper implementation of the law. We ask the authorities to protect our legal rights, supervise and correct their acts, and hold them accountable.

June 17, 2012

Attachment 3: Situation reports

Leadership of relevant government departments,

Greetings!

My name is Zhang Xiurong, 77, from Zhouguantun Village, Fu Town, Botou City, Hebei Province. My husband and I have two sons and two daughters. Although we have had a hard life, that is what we're used to. Our sons and daughters are filial, our grandchildren are smart and good, and we're very happy. Since Falun Gong was suppressed in 1999, our entire family has not had a peaceful day. Especially this year, my son Wang Xiaodong and daughter Wang Xiaomei were both illegally arrested, and my son was subjected to a variety of tortures at the Botou City Detention Center. My heart is bleeding. I cannot help but implore to you leaders, to please help stop the relevant personnel who are illegally harming my family members. I will give a detailed account below.

1. How Mr. Wang Xiaodong and Ms. Wang Xiaomei were arrested

At 6:00 a.m. on February 25, 2012 over thirty officers from the Botou Police Department covered my son's head with his jacket and illegally arrested him without showing any ID or going through any normal procedures. Moreover, they ransacked Xiaodong's home, robbing him of everything, including over 20,000 yuan in cash that Xiaodong planned to use to buy fertilizer.

To urge the police department to handle the case according to the law and release innocent Wang Xiaodong, his younger sister Xiaomei asked villagers to serve as witnesses of Xiaodong's character and appeal for his immediate release. Otherwise how can I, an elder, manage to take care of Xiaodong's seven-year-old son? The villagers all know Xiaodong to be a good person and are all willing to help. Thus 300 villagers, each representing a family, signed and pressed fingerprints onto a petition letter. Our village residential committee even used its official stamp to emphasize its importance, hoping the police department and Procuratorate would uphold justice. However, despite Xiamei's multiple attempts to deliver the letter to the Botou Police Department and Procuratorate, they refused to accept it. It was reported that someone later reported this event and the letter on the Internet, and it reached the Politburo, where the central government leaders all paid attention to it.

We originally thought that with the attention of central government leaders, this case would receive fair treatment. Instead, it seemed that a bee hive had just been poked. On April 23, over a dozen officers from the Botou City Domestic Security Division, including Wang Wensheng, Gao Guiqi, and Sun Xiquan, went to Zhouguantun Village asking the village official to interrogate and videotape the villagers who signed the letter and force the village officials to give up the original document to them. On May 26, Wang Fengru and Tang Jianying, who allowed Ms. Wang to stay with them, were illegally arrested by Botou police at the Wangtong Community located on Nanhuan Road, Changzhou City, and were detained at the Changzhou Municipal Detention Center.

Xiaodong has now been prosecuted by the Botou City Procuratorate at Botou Court. The original trial date was set for June 21, but on that day it was adjourned. Xiaomei is still imprisoned at the detention center without any news. These disasters out of the blue have left us stunned. We went to many places and consulted attorneys and relevant judges. They confirmed that Xiaodong is innocent and the personnel handling this case are actually violating the law.

2. Wang Xiaodong and Wang Xiaomei are innocent, and the police handling the case are actually committing crimes.

First of all, the arrest of Wang Xiaodong is without legal merit. We eventually found out after asking around that the reason for Xiaodong's arrest was that he participated in purchasing jewel-boxes used for packaging the Shen Yun CDs. However, the Shen Yun CDs are very good, and is there anything wrong with letting people know about it? We asked attorneys and they also said it's legal for Xiaodong to buy CD jewel-boxes. We have heard that this arrest was a province-wide action. Is it because of the province-wide scope that these relevant departments gave orders to wrongfully arrest and prosecute Xiaodong? It has been claimed that our society is ruled by law, so isn't this ridiculous? Do the people in power have the right to damage our family for their own sake of getting a promotion and making a fortune?

Secondly, Xiaodong's charge was said to be “sabotaging the implementation of law by utilizing cult organizations.” However, after consultation with attorneys and legal experts, as well as studying the relevant legal documents, the conclusion we arrived at is that by prosecuting Falun Gong practitioners with Article 300 of Criminal Law, the participants are actually violating the law themselves and have committed the crime of “bending the law for the benefit of relatives or friends.”

(1) The police and procurator imposed this charge on Wang Xiaodong but they could not specify which law's implementation was sabotaged by him and how, what the consequence the sabotage caused, etc. They had no supporting evidence whatsoever. It is a travesty that they claim by just buying CD jewel-boxes, Wang was able to violate and prevent the implementation of law. This is something even an older person like me understands, so why don't the case handlers understand?

Empty CD jewel-boxes are normal merchandise and can be bought or sold at any time. There's no law restricting selling or buying them. Why does a perfectly legal thing suddenly become illegal when it comes to a Falun Gong practitioner? Once it's tied to Falun Gong, the police can imprison and persecute Xiaodong and steal his hard earned money. If the law cannot protect good people, then who is really sabotaging the implementation of the law?

(2) We have consulted attorneys, and it is also very clear that at present, the formal document listing cult organizations is the “Notice about recognizing and banning cult organizations” (number (2000) 39) of the Public Security Ministry. This notice states that 14 cult organizations were identified according to relevant law and documents. Falun Gong is not on the list. The Chinese Constitution and laws have never identified Falun Gong as a cult. What Jiang Zemin said when answering a foreign reporter's questions, the media propaganda, and the internal documents of government organizations are not law and have no legal jurisdiction. On the contrary, they have gone against the Constitution and law.

On the other hand, regarding the cult issue, we common people don't know much law, but we're very clear minded. What a cult does would surely include killing, committing violent crimes, and deceiving and cheating people. Who has ever seen Falun Gong do these things? If Xiaodong has ever done one bad thing to the villagers, no one would have pressed his fingerprint for us even if our family knelt down to beg them, as they would all want to see us fall on bad times. Isn't this the case?

Those familiar with Wang Xiaodong all know that he is a good person, especially after practicing Falun Gong. He is very filial. To be frank, I would like my sons and daughters to practice Falun Gong. It is good for their health, and good for their character, as they will avoid smoking, alcohol, gambling, etc. and not do wrong things. Even when the Botou local government was forcing the villagers to rescind their fingerprints, some villagers said, “Falun Gong is indeed good, and I approve of Xiaodong to practice.” Just because they want to practice, to be good people, Xiaodong and his siblings have been beaten and arrested multiple times since 1999. Last year, my daughter-in-law could not stand it any longer and had no choice but to divorce Xiaodong. Her harmonious family was broken up like this! I'm not blaming my daughter-in-law, as people naturally want to have a better life. However, is it impossible to be a good person in this world? To be a good person your family will be broken up. Is this justice?

Unfortunately both Xiaodong and Xiaomei, who are innocent, are being persecuted and our originally happy family is being torn apart. Xiaodong has been illegally detained at the Botou City Detention Center for four months. He is forced to do 17-18 hours of high-intensity labor every day. His nails have come off from the labor and he's eating food that even the pets in an ordinary family would not want to eat, while suffering corporal punishments. In such a short period he has already lost more than a dozen pounds. Children are their parents' treasure. Do these police and procurators also have children? As for Xiaomei, she was arrested for just collecting some signatures and fingerprints for Xiaodong's appeal and her whereabouts are unknown. If Xiaodong's case happened in your family, wouldn't you also like the brothers and sisters to help? Why has this become abnormal? Right now in my family, we cannot make ends meet, and are just getting by day after day.

From another angle, in almost every criminal case there's co-signed letters involved. Our co-signed letter was not obtained with money or coercion. It came from villagers' hearts. They know very well that Xiaodong's experience is just one of the many cases of the brutal persecution that Falun Gong practitioners have suffered since 1999, and that the local government is carrying out orders from higher-ups. Nevertheless, they still appealed for justice, showing tremendous moral courage. What they did best illustrated our local people's image and can be called a noble act. Nowadays people ignore an innocent child being crushed to death by a car, and make and sell fake goods without a second thought. How admirable are our villagers' acts amidst such terrible times! We call for restoration of morality, and even our Premier Wen Jiabao and Chairman Hu Jintao have also called for it. The newspapers and television talk about it, but when common people indeed are doing moral things, why does the government suddenly fear it?

This is the dire situation our family is in. To avoid any more large tragedies from happening and more families encountering the same situation, we appeal to you to please pay attention to our family's situation. We call upon the leadership of relevant organizations to help rescue good, innocent people (Xiaodong and Xiaomei) who are suffering persecution. Our family needs them, our neighbors need them! An innocent person shouldn't be treated unfairly like this, and shouldn't be persecuted like this! The only people our family feel sorry for are the villagers who signed their names. They were just speaking their genuine feelings, but were harassed by the corrupt police to the point that they could not live normal lives. What these officers were thinking was to beat down all the good people so that no one can do good deeds. After that they can then do whatever they want against their conscience.

Under this difficult situation, our family had no choice but to appeal to you. We believe that although in Botou right and wrong has been turned upside down, in China there is still hope. Please help with the unconditional release of Xiaodong and his sister based on your kindness and humanity.

We appeal to those government officials who have the power to help stop the illegal actions of the Botou police, stop the illegal arrest and prosecution against Xiaodong by the Botou Procuratorate, and prevent the Botou Court from handing out wrongful sentences to good people. Please restore justice to common people and to society. Meanwhile, this also leaves a way out for these participants of the persecution. Otherwise, when the policies and the situation change, they may not be able to escape the punishment of law and heaven, bringing themselves and their families severe pain and deep regret.

Our entire family thanks you for taking time in your busy schedule to read our letter and we are looking forward to your support and response.

Under this tough situation, if our words are not appropriate, please understand and forgive. Thanks again for your attention.

Mr. Wang Xiaodong's mother Ms. Zhang Xiurong

June 25, 2012