Brewery Owner Driven to Suicide Two Weeks after Wife's Arrest for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Two weeks after his wife's arrest for practicing Falun Gong, a 50-year-old man from Dandong city in China's Liaoning Province snapped under the police pressure and killed himself, leaving behind the couple's college-age daughter and his elderly father.

Both Mr. Zhou Anwei (周安伟) and his wife Ms. Liu Huiying (刘慧英) were arrested together on October 8. Over ten policemen from different divisions in Dandong Municipal Police Department and local police station broke into the couple's home and confiscated their personal belongings, including Falun Gong books, materials about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) persecution of Falun Gong, a desktop computer, and mobile phones.

Ms. Liu has remained captive at Dandong Detention Center since her arrest. Mr. Zhou was released on the night of his arrest, but not before he was pressured to fabricate a lie about two Falun Gong practitioners that he didn't personally know.

During interrogation at the Dagushan Economic District Police Sub-Department, Mr. Zhou was ordered to squat on the ground for extended periods of time. The police were not satisfied when he told them he had no idea of who gave his wife the confiscated Falun Gong materials. They threatened to put him and his wife in prison.

With his 80-year-old father living with him, a daughter in college and a brewery needing attention, Mr. Zhou felt desperate to get out as soon as possible. He recalled two names he saw on a flyer exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. Even though he didn't know the two practitioners, he made up some stories about their passing Falun Gong materials to his wife.

After he was released on October 8, Mr. Zhou learned from a relative that the Dandong Municipal Police Department had tapped his wife's phone conversations, in which she told other people about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. Du Guojun, head of the Domestic Security Team, led the arrest of him and his wife.

On October 10, Mr. Zhou received his wife's formal arrest warrant approved by procuratorate, which meant she faces trial and likely imprisonment.

Mr. Zhou went to see Pan Baochang (deputy director in charge of Falun Gong cases at the Dagushan Police Sub-Department) that afternoon to request his wife's unconditional release.

When Pan rejected his request, Mr. Zhou talked to a friend who knew Pan for help. The friend came back saying that Pan reiterated the severity of Ms. Liu's case, since the police found over 1,000 items related to Falun Gong at their home.

Mr. Zhou knew it was an outright lie since there was no way they had that many Falun Gong items at their home. Besides, there was no law banning the possession of Falun Gong books and materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong at private homes.

Mr. Zhou was already under tremendous strain looking after his family and business. A sense of hopelessness about his wife's fate, intense pressure from the police and guilt about his falsely accusing two practitioners to get out of prison further pushed him over the edge.

Tragically, Mr. Zhou took his own life on October 22, 2014.

Individuals who participated in the persecution:

Du Guojun (杜国军), Manager of Dandong Municipal Domestic Security Division: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Home), [phone] (Mobile), [phone] (Mobile).Du Qiang (杜强), Manager of the Network Security Branch, Dandong Municipal Domestic Security Division: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Home), [phone] (Mobile).Zheng Hao (郑浩), Political Instructor of the Network Security Branch, Dandong Municipal Domestic Security Division: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Home), [phone] (Mobile).Pan Baochang (潘宝昌), Deputy Director of Dagushan Economic District Police Sub-Department: [phone] (Home), [phone] (Mobile).