(Minghui.org) Chinese officials often say that Falun Gong practitioners have criminal records. But in fact, they don't have criminal records, since remaining steadfast in one's chosen faith is not a crime. Nor is talking to fellow citizens about the persecution a crime. But this is what Falun Gong practitioners are persecuted for, and these are the so-called crimes that comprise their so-called criminal records.
The simple fact that practitioners have already been persecuted finds them labelled as “criminals” and thus even more likely to be targeted for further persecution.
Arrested Because of a “Criminal Record”
Mr. Yang Jianzhong, 70, retired from his job as a senior cost engineer in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. After being arrested several times for practicing Falun Gong, he left home in April 2008 and moved frequently to avoid harassment and arrest.
In July 2008, Mr. Yang secretly returned home to get some personal belongings. Unfortunately, Wu Tao from the Security Department where he used to work spotted him and notified officers from Gongping Police Station.
Several carloads of police came and cuffed Mr. Yang behind his back. They took mug shots and forced him into a vehicle. At the Gongping Police Station, he was cruelly beaten and then transported to the Wenjiang Detention Center. The police also illegally searched his home and confiscated his personal property.
Mr. Yang later asked Wu Tao, “I was living peacefully in the countryside. Why did you arrest me?”
Wu Tao said, “We thought that you were coming back for some Falun Gong activities. It was the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and we were told to arrest all the Falun Gong practitioners. Since you have a record, we had to lock you up.”
Extorted Because of a “Criminal Record”
Officers from Hanshan District Police Department and Luochengtou Police Station in Handan, Hebei Province arrested Mr. Ji Ruiling and Ms. Ji Junyun on September 18, 2009.
The police threatened Ms. Ji's family: “She has a previous record—she went to Beijing to appeal before. That means she will be sentenced to seven years or more. If you want to reduce her term, you have to pay. If you pay10,000 yuan, we will deduct a year from her sentence. If you pay everything off, then you can bail her out.”
Ms. Ji's family wanted her home as soon as possible. They believed the police, so they gave the officers 50,000 yuan. The family also spent more than 10,000 yuan on food, drinks, and other things for the police.
The police cheated Ms. Ji's family out of more than 100,000 yuan altogether.
In October, however, her family received a notice that she had been sentenced to three years and two months. During the whole process, the family wasn't informed of the trial or the sentencing hearing. Her brother, Mr. Ji, was sentenced to three years as well.
Sentenced Because of a “Criminal Record”
On December 16, 2004, Ms. Liu Shujie from Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested in Beijing. In the Daqing City Detention Center, police officer Zhou Cunxing and other police officers from the Petroleum Chemical Factory Station ransacked her home.
Even though they did not find anything in her house, they still planned to have her sentenced her to 3 years in a forced labor camp based solely on the fact that she was sentenced to labor camps twice previously.
When Ms. Liu's family demanded her release, Zhou Cunxing said, “Three years of labor camp is pretty light. Since she has previous convictions, she needs to be sentenced to jail.”
Ms. Fu Guiying and Ms. Deng Liangchun from Linyi in Shandong Province were were arrested on June 6, 2012, and taken to the Lanshan Domestic Security Team. They were later detained in the Linyi City Detention Center.
Prior to this arrest, Ms. Deng was sentenced to forced labor, and Ms. Fu was also arrested and detained. Failing to find any new evidence to sentence them this time, the Lanshan District judicial system used their previous records as "criminal evidence" and sentenced Ms. Fu to seven years and Ms. Deng to nine on October 8, 2012. During the process, their lawyers were told that they couldn't visit their clients because their cases were under “supplementary investigation.”
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Every Falun Gong practitioner who has been persecuted by the CCP is seen as a criminal with “a record” and is added to the CCP's blacklist. On so-called sensitive dates such as national holidays, important sport games, or when foreign government leaders visit, the CCP goes after those on their blacklist. Practitioners on their lists are then arrested, jailed, or sentenced based on their “criminal records.”
Moreover, many practitioners with these so-called “criminal records” have been deprived of many of their rights, including the right to vote, to get an education, to have medical insurance, to join the military, to be promoted, to be employed, to go abroad, etc. Even democracy and human rights movement activists are now being persecuted because of their “previous convictions.”
It is not hard to deduce that the real criminal is the Party itself. In last few decades, the Party has killed millions of innocent Chinese people and been responsible for pain and suffering, not least of which is the 15-year-long persecution of Falun Gong.
