(Minghui.org) Mr. Xie Xiaoguang was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in the Yicheng District Court in Zhumadian City for filing criminal complaints in 2015 against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime, for instigating the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999.

The sentence was issued on June 29, 2016. Mr. Xie will appeal.

2015 and 2016: Arrested and Tried

Four officers from the Xiyuan Police Station broke into Mr. Xie's home on November 10, 2015. They ordered him to sign documents related to his filing criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin. Mr. Xie refused. The police arrested him and ransacked his home. Mr. Xie was taken to the Zhumadian City Detention Center.

Mr. Xie was tried on June 14, 2016. His attorney pleaded not guilty. Mr. Xie told the court that practicing Falun Gong has improved his health and moral character. However, he was arrested four times, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and tortured for his belief.

October 2002: Tortured

Mr. Xie, 58, was the deputy head of the finance section in the Zhumadian City Bureau of Textile and Light Industries. He was arrested on October 20, 2002, by officers from the Yuanhui District Police Department.

The police interrogated and tortured him for four days. He was deprived of sleep and handcuffed to a table leg with his hands in the back. Two officers also cuffed his hands behind his back and pulled his arms upward, which caused the handcuff to cut into his wrists.

Torture Illustration: Handcuffing behind the back

They then kicked his chest, which caused excruciating pain. The police also used a lighter to burn his genital and his pubic hair was burnt.

Hit with Bamboo Sticks During Interrogation

Mr. Xie was later taken to the Yancheng County Detention Center where he was interrogated several times and tortured. The officers hit him with bamboo sticks that had to be replaced several times because they broke. A bamboo stick became embedded in his thigh, festered, and had to be removed surgically.

He was sentenced to a 10-year prison term on June 2, 2003, and was taken to the Zhengzhou City Prison at the end of September 2003.

He was carried out of his cell and thrown to the ground in the prison hallway each night for practicing the Falun Gong exercises. His prison term was increased.

Force-fed Unknown Drugs

He was transferred to the No. 9 Ward to be “transformed” in July 2007. The prison authority fed him a green tablet. He suffered from memory loss, became dull and confused, and experienced ringing in the ears.

He was also forced to do hard labor for over 10 hours a day.

He was released in 2010.

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the 610 Office on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.