(Minghui.org) Having endured seven years in prison, a 41-year-old Huaian City, Jiangsu Province resident is facing indictment again for practicing Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Sentenced to Seven Years After One Year of Interrogation and Torture
Mr. Lei Jiangtao, a native of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, graduated from the Hengshui Normal College with a degree in computer science in 2002. He went to Beijing to look for a job in 2003 and stayed at another practitioner, Mr. Sun Jiliang’s, place. On October 31, 2003, a group of officers broke into Mr. Sun’s home at around 11 p.m. and arrested the two practitioners and Mr. Wang Xu, who happened to be visiting them.
One officer covered Mr. Lei’s mouth as he shouted “Falun Dafa is a righteous practice.” He was then carried downstairs and pushed into the police car, where one officer sat on him and and another stepped on his head.
Upon arrival at the National Security Bureau Detention Center, another group of officers beat Mr. Lei. The left side of his face became swollen and he could barely open his eyes. He lost hearing in his left ear. The officers shocked him with an electric baton on his back, face, and mouth. They also handcuffed him. The cuffs were so tight that it cut deeply into his wrists.
For the entire night, the officers didn’t allow Mr. Lei to sleep, but forced him to stand or squat. His feet and legs became numb.
Mr. Lei was taken back to Shijiazhuang on November 8 and held at the Jinzhou City Detention Center. He was interrogated again on November 10. The police poured cold water onto his clothes, slapped him in the face and didn’t allow him to sleep for two nights during the interrogation.
Between December 1 and December 9, 2003, Mr. Lei was held at a brainwashing center and subjected to psychological abuse. He was ordered to do unpaid labor after he was sent back to the detention center on December 9. He often worked for over 20 hours each day. He could only sleep for over two hours every day or have no sleep at all. The guards didn’t give him any breaks except for meal time, and would beat or torture him if he couldn’t finish the quota on time.
After one year of detention and torture, Mr. Lei was sentenced to seven years by the Jinzhou City Court on July 27, 2004.
Due to the filthy living environment in the detention center, Mr. Lei developed very itchy scabies all over his body. He was unable to sleep at night. Weeks after he started a hunger strike to protest the persecution in October 2004, the guards beat him with a rubber club and pried open his mouth with a shoe brush to force feed him on November 4. Another guard handcuffed his hands behind his back on the day after.
On November 15, 2004, Mr. Lei was sent to the Jidong Prison, where he continued to be tortured and ordered to give up his faith.
Recent Arrest
After Mr. Lei was released, he moved to the Huaian City in Jiangsu Province. He was arrested again on June 18, 2020. The police claimed that he was recorded on surveillance camera distributing Falun Gong booklets in April 2020.
The police put him under house arrest on June 19 and released him on bail on June 27. His case was submitted to the Qingjiangpu District Procuratorate in August.
The prosecutor Zhai Yanlan talked to Mr. Lei on October 13 and said she was about to indict him. She asked Mr. Lei to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong and plead guilty. He refused to comply.
The prosecutor pressured Mr. Lei again two days later and threatened to indict him if he still refused to plead guilty.
Related report:
Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Lei Jiangtao Illegally Sentenced to Prison - Now in Critical Condition
