(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. An Zhanfeng was illegally sentenced to ten years in prison on December 18, 2002, by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for hanging up banners with messages about Falun Gong. He was 33. By the end of his term his hair had turned gray.

Persecuted from Day One of the Persecution

Mr. An, born in 1969, used to work at the Chemical Factory, a division under the Jinchuan Group Company in Jinchang City, Gansu Province.

The persecution of Mr. An began on July 20, 1999, the day the CCP officially banned Falun Gong. The management at his workplace kept at him to renounce Falun Gong. They told him to hand in his Falun Gong books and materials and said that they wanted to video record him and broadcast the recording on television. The secretary of the CCP committee told him to wear a pager so they could monitor him. Mr. An wasn't receptive to any of their demands.

First Arrest

Officer Dai Baoji from the Jinchuan Company Police Station arrested him and took him to the police department at his workplace in July 2001.

They claimed that he was going online to publish solemn declarations for practitioners who had renounced Falun Gong under duress and wanted to null and void those declarations publicly. The authorities told him to confess. He refused to cooperate.

In response, Dai removed Mr. An's safety helmet, hit his head very hard a few times, and said, “We are not running a charity.” Then, Dai and several others broke into Mr. An's home. Mr. An was able to escape by climbing over the wall. He became homeless.

Second Arrest

Mr. An was hanging Falun Gong truth-clarification banners in the vicinity of Yan'an road in the Jinchuan District on March 4, 2002. He was arrested and taken to the Jinchuan Police Sub-Department.

During the interrogation, about six guards hit and kicked him. When they were tired, another group of guards hit and kicked him. They put him on a chair and handcuffed his hands behind the back of the chair. They kicked his back and pulled his handcuffs, causing excruciating pain. They tortured him until the next day.

After being released from the chair, he was handcuffed to a heater. In the evening, he was tied to the bed so that his feet were suspended in the air. Within a few minutes his hands became numb. They opened his handcuffs after his arms and hands turned dark. They exercised his arms and then handcuffed him again. Dai repeatedly kicked his hands. He was tortured like this until the evening.

He was then moved to another room and handcuffed to the heater. By that time, he was dizzy and muddle-headed and both legs were numb. In the evening, Li Xinhua and others beat him and swore at him.

Torture reenactment: Handcuffed to a heater

Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

Mr. An was taken to the Jinchang Detention Center on March 8, 2002, and sentenced by a CCP court to 10 years in prison on December 18, 2002. He was transferred to Lanzhou Prison in early April 2003.

He was ordered to recite the prison rules and regulations and do hard labor. He was beaten if he didn't meet his quota. Mr. An refused to cooperate and was transferred to Wuwei Prison after three months.

In Wuwei Prison they ordered him make handmade carpets, which he refused to do. He refused to be brainwashed or write reflection reports. He refused to attend the meetings where he would be criticized for practicing Falun Gong and he went on a hunger strike to protest being persecuted.

Mr. An and other practitioners were transferred to Jiuquan Prison on December 1, 2005. The guards tried to "transform" them using torture. They made the practitioners sit on a small stool, held them in dark rooms, deprived them of sleep, and made them watch videos and read articles defaming Falun Gong. They also put them in a pigpen and burned them with cigarettes and boiling water. They put rabbits down their pants, tightened theirs pants, and hit the rabbits, which then scratched and bit.

Mr. An had to work from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. or later until he was released from prison at the end of his 10-year sentence.

Summary of Key Persecution Facts: Name: An Zhanfeng (安占峰) Gender: Male Age: 45 Address: Jinchang City, Gansu Province Occupation: Worker Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 4, 2002
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jiuquan Prison (酒泉监狱) City: Jiuquan
Province: Gansu
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, interrogation by torture, brutal beatings, torture, handcuffed to a radiator, illegally sentenced, imprisonment, forced slave labor, hanging upside down, electric shock, sitting on a small plastic stool for a long time, sleep deprivation, held in a dark room