(Minghui.org) Human rights lawyers Wang Quanzhang and Li Fuchun, as well as family members of Falun Gong practitioners being unlawfully detained in the Langfang Brainwashing Center, went to the center on July 4, 2014 to demand the practitioners' immediate release. The four practitioners being detained in the black jail are Kang Jingtai, Wang Zhanqing, Ma Weishan and Lin Xiaohui. The facility removed its signboard at the front entrance over a year ago.
The original front entrance of the Langfang Brainwashing Center with the signboard
The current front entrance of the Langfang Brainwashing Center without the signboard
Rear view of the brainwashing center. The left side is the detention center.
The Langfang Brainwashing Center is located at Xichang Road, west of the Langfang Detention Center. It is a two-story building with the brainwashing center on the second floor. There are more than 20 individual rooms and each room can hold one Falun Gong practitioner. All life essentials including eating, drinking, sleeping and defecating are confined to these rooms. Video cameras monitor the hallway as well as in the rooms.
The brainwashing center has been there since 2000. It has been reported that the center has information about more than 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners. Among them, over 2,000 have been subjected to brainwashing in the center. Currently, the four practitioners Kang Jingtai, Wang Zhanqing, Ma Weishan and Lin Xiaohui are being detained in this black jail.
The two lawyers and the practitioners' family members arrived at the front entrance at 9:30 a.m. on July 4. One officer, Li Hansong, came to work right after that. He criticized the gate guard for allowing the visitors to enter. He then went inside. The gate guard attempted to drive the lawyers and the practitioners' family members out. They did not move. The two lawyers stepped forward to pass through the iron gate of the black jail. Immediately after they entered, seven or eight burly men stepped forward and surrounded them. One officer was there too.
The two lawyers explained the unlawfulness of the persecution of Falun Gong and the brainwashing center. They said, “The detention of these kindhearted citizens is unlawful. The high level officials who are actively involved in the persecution like Li Dongsheng, Xu Caihou, Bo Xilai and others have been arrested. Things are changing. You need to be clear about the current situation and follow the law.”
They continued their explanation from the law, belief, and human rights with facts and principles. The lawyers asked the jail to immediately release the Falun Gong practitioners unconditionally. The jail officer stopped the thugs and said he would extend the request to his supervisor.
The four practitioners were arrested on the afternoon of April 22, 2014 along with several others. They were initially detained in the Sanhe Detention Center. On May 4, they were transferred to the Langfang Brainwashing Center.
Doctor Kang Jingtai had a blood pressure reading of 220. He was very weak. The detention center refused to accept him for fear of being held responsible for his death. The Sanhe City Police Director signed an order that forced the center to take him. Mr. Kang's father had died a little earlier. His mother was in poor condition and could not stand the pressure of knowing her son had been arrested again. She passed away on May 2.
Mr. Kang's wife, Fang Chunyan, hired lawyer Li Chunfu from Beijing to defend her husband. Lawyer Li went to the Sanhe Detention Center several times to meet with Mr. Kang. He then went to the state security agency in the city police station to request his release. His request was denied. Lawyer Li asked Deputy Director Jia Zhixue of the Sanhe Security Agency to release Mr. Kang, saying, “Kang Jingtai has been detained much longer than 37 days, the detention length for criminal suspects. If he is not released, it is illegal detention.”
Practitioner Ma Weishan is 74 years old. His wife is 78 years old. She was worried about her husband and their nurse Lin Xiaohui. She hired lawyers Wang Quanzhang and Wang Yu from Beijing.
Lawyer Wang Quanzhang and Wang Yu went to the State Security Agency in the Sanhe Police Station to hand over legal documents. Deputy Director Jia Zhixue did not mention his name or his police ID, or accept the legal documents. The lawyers were not allowed to meet with their clients. They asked for the legal basis of the refusal. Jia said there was no legal basis. Later the two lawyers went to the post office to mail the legal documents.
On July 1, lawyer Wang Quanzhang went to the Sanhe City Court and filed a lawsuit against the Sanhe Police for their unlawful detention of practitioner Ma Weishan. He also requested an investigation of those responsible for the detention. Based on China's code of governmental information disclosure, he requested the Sanhe Police Station to disclose the legal basis for arresting Ma Weishan, brainwashing him and not allowing people to see him. The legal documents of this request were mailed to the Sanhe Police Station.
Freedom of belief is a basic right conferred by the constitution. Falun Gong practitioners have the right to distribute informational materials. Nearly one hundred lawyers have defended Falun Gong practitioners' innocence in recent years. The lawyers demonstrated that practicing Falun Gong is legal and the persecution is unlawful.
