(Minghui.org) A farmer in Suining City was sorting peanuts at home on August 28, 2018, when three officers broke in and arrested him. They slammed his head against a wall at the local police station. He suffered a severe brain injury as a result and has since been in and out of a coma.
Mr. Wu Mingshu was targeted because he refused to renounce Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The practice has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999.
Mr. Wu's wife was notified of the bleeding in his brain and was asked to take him home. She refused on the grounds that police should be held responsible for his injuries sustained while in custody.
Officers then sent Mr. Wu to the local police hospital. His wife visited him and noted he was still shackled even though he couldn't move a bit. She tried to take pictures of him but was stopped. She requested to have her husband transferred to a better hospital and was told she'd have to cover all of his medical expenses.
While Mr. Wu remains at the police hospital, his children, who work out of town, have returned home to try to seek his release.
This is not the first time that Mr. Wu has been persecuted for his faith. His latest arrest was preceded by three prior arrests.
First Arrest Leads to 18 Months of Forced Labor
Mr. Wu started practicing Falun Gong in April 2004. The practice improved his physical health and helped him gain confidence and a peaceful mind.
When Mr. Wu and another practitioner distributed Falun Gong materials on May 30, 2006, he was reported to police. Officers from Shidong Town Police Station ransacked his home when he was not present and confiscated all of his Falun Gong materials.
As Mr. Wu returned home from another city on June 19 three weeks later, officers arrested him on the street and took him to a police station. Chief Yuan Xilin slapped him in the face and kicked him hard. With his face swollen and feet bruised, Mr. Mu was sent to the Yongxing Detention Center that evening.
One month later, he was moved to a brainwashing center, where he was held for the next two months. He was then given 18 months of forced labor at Xinhua Labor Camp, where he was forced to attend daily brainwashing session and suffered various forms of abuse, such as being deprived of sleep and forced to stand motionlessly for a long time.
Ms. Wu did not return home until November 2007. He learned that his wife had also been detained for one day after his arrest and that police had confiscated 3,000 yuan in cash–the only money they had. His wife struggled to make ends meet while he was in the labor camp.
Two More Arrests In Less Than Two Years
Mr. Wu's second arrest occurred in February 2014 after he distributed a copy of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in the township party office. Officers from Shidong Police Station arrested him and confiscated his Falun Gong books, along with computers and a DVD burner. He was fined 1,000 yuan and kept at a brainwashing center for 13 days.
Mr. Wu and another practitioner went to Daying County to deliver Falun Gong materials to other practitioners on December 14, 2015. Police bugged their cell phones and had an officer wait nearby pretending to be a taxi driver. Mr. Wu and the practitioner took the taxi to another practitioner's home, where they were swarmed by officers.
Mr. Wu was taken back to Suining City. Inside the police van, they tied him up and beat him hard. Dozens of officers ransacked his home and took pictures. At 11 p.m. that day, more than 10 police vehicles were dispatched, including armed police forces, to ransack his rental place. After confiscating more Falun Gong books and materials, they sent Mr. Wu to the Yongxing Detention Center at 2 a.m. the next day, where he was kept for 37 days.
Even before his latest arrest in August 2018, police harassed Mr. Wu from time to time, demanding information about other Falun Gong practitioners.
