(Minghui.org) Four Qinyang City residents were sentenced to prison for filing a criminal complaint against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin for ordering the persecution of Falun Gong that resulted in their past detentions.
Mr. Su Huaifu, Mr. Zhao Zhengwen, Mr. Zhao Qiufeng, and Ms. Yang Lianhong were arrested in late December 2015 and tried on June 2, 2016 without their families’ knowledge.
They were each sentenced to 3.5 years on December 7, 2016. At the time of writing, Mr. Zhao Qiufeng and Ms. Yang, 50, have been transferred to prison, with Mr. Zhao sent to Zhengzhou Prison and Ms. Yang to Xinxiang Women’s Prison.
Mr. Su, 65, and Mr. Zhao Zhengwen, 64, remain on bail following their sentencing. The two men were released about three months into their arrest after developing severe health problems. Both men were threatened by the local authorities to not appeal against their verdicts or else risk being taken back into custody.
All four practitioners had been harassed or detained in the past for refusing to renounce Falun Gong. Mr. Su once served 3 years in prison for his faith.
Mr. Su and his wife credit Falun Gong for returning them to health. Having had firsthand experience with Falun Gong, they never shied away from telling people that the persecution is wrong. This simple act landed them in police custody on numerous occasions.
Mr. Su was first arrested on July 23, 1999 and detained for 25 days, during which time he was forced to read materials slandering Falun Gong.
He was arrested again on August 22, 2000 for putting up stick-it notes bearing Falun Gong messages. The police tied him up for passersby to see right outside the detention center. He wasn’t released until 33 days later. The police ordered him to pay a fine of 200 yuan four months later.
Mr. Su was arrested for a third time in December 2000 and kept at a brainwashing center for more than one month.
Mr. Su’s fourth arrest took place on July 6, 2004. His wife was seized at the same time and given one year of forced labor. Mr. Su was sentenced to three years in prison. The police also threatened to arrest the couple’s two children, but were stopped by some local officials.
Mr. Su was home on September 25, 2012 when the police broke in and arrested him. His home was ransacked and he was detained for 37 days. He and his wife stopped practicing Falun Gong after he was released.
The couple both fell severely ill in 2013, with Mr. Su suffering from myocardial infarction and his wife high blood pressure, brain hemorrhage, and heart problems. They were both hospitalized.
Mr. Su and his wife resumed practicing Falun Gong after being discharged from the hospital. They soon became healthy again and filed a criminal complaint in 2015 against Jiang Zemin for infringing upon their constitutional right to freedom of belief. The police then arrested Mr. Su in response.
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.