Liu Shusong was one of my best friends. Upon hearing the shocking news of his death, my eyes filled with tears. He was kind, honest, smart, warmhearted, and always willing to help others. I felt as if I had lost a dear relative. The death certificate issued by the Public Security Bureau of Hebei Province to the Public Health Bureau of Pinggu County of Beijing, stated that "he jumped off a building to his death." My heart filled with grief and indignation upon hearing such a lie.
In March, Liu Shusong and I, together with two other practitioners, boarded a train from Shijiazhuang to Beijing. At two o'clock in the morning of March 6, 2001 we were arrested without cause or explanation.. We were detained by the Political Security Brigade of Public Security Bureau of Shijiazhuang City [the building is inside the Xinhua Traffic Patrol Brigade compound of Shijiazhuang City.] Since we refused to reveal our names and addresses, the corrupt policemen punched us and beat us with clubs (they did not use electric batons). Later, they handcuffed us on the top of a five-story building. Around 1pm, the policemen said they were going out to drink and would come back to interrogate us that evening. It was very windy on the roof and there was a lot of sand blowing in the wind. The policemen handcuffed us to an iron fence facing the wind. I had to stand on my toes with my heels barely touching the ground. My legs quickly went numb. My wrists were also in pain due to the steel handcuffs, but the vicious policemen thought that the handcuffs were not tight enough so they tightened them up two notches on my left wrist. The pain was so excruciating that it felt as if someone was biting into my heart.
Many practitioners have been sent to "forced transformation classes" from this police department; some have been sent to forced labor camps or sentenced to imprisonment because they did not cooperate with the wicked police. At about 4pm that afternoon, the policemen came back. They unlocked Liu Shusong's handcuffs first. Shusong ran toward the edge of the building and jumped down. I heard the sound of wood cracking from below. The policemen ran down the stairs to chase him. After a while, one policeman came back and told us, "He ran away." I was proud of his courage and resolution. I knew I had no chance to escape that day but I was happy for Shusong. Later, two other practitioners and I were moved to an office facing south at the east end of the fifth floor.
Suddenly, I heard voices from the office facing us across the corridor. Because there was no guard in our room, one practitioner whispered to me, "Listen. It sounds like Shusong's voice." I listened carefully. It was just like Shusong's voice. After a while, someone asked, "Where do you work?" "Pinggu County Hospital," came the reply. ... At that point I knew it was Shusong and felt sorry that he had been caught again. The interrogation lasted for about 20 minutes. His responses during the ongoing interrogation were strong and clear. That demonstrated to me that Shusong was not hurt after jumping off of the building to escape.
Later, they interrogated me and attempted to get me to say something incriminating about Shusong. Of course their attempts failed. At that time I thought they might have wanted to send him to a forced labor camp. After some time, we were released one by one, but I still didn't know the whereabouts of Shusong. One day I happened to read an article on ClearWisdom Net. The news for March 15th said that the Police of Shijiazhuang City beat a young Falun Dafa practitioner from Cang County to death. The news also mentioned that a senior policeman, who didn't want his name released, commented angrily, "That was too much!" I was afraid that the young man might be Shusong so I tried to search for more information about Shusong everywhere I could. Later, I heard that the Public Security Bureau of Hebei Province had issued a death certificate for Liu Shusong to the Public Health Bureau of Pinggu County stating the reason for death as "committing suicide by jumping off a building."
I also heard that Liu Shusong's father received the death notification from the Shijiazhuang police in the afternoon of March 8, 2001. His father came and saw Shusong's body in Hebei Provincial Hospital on March 9, 2001. At that time, the body was being frozen to be preserved, but one could still see the injuries on the top and the back of Shusong's head. When asked about the cause of these injuries, the police answered that he had scratched himself when he jumped off of the building. (Shusong ran away on foot after jumping off of the building. How could his head get scratched?) Shusong's father also found four scars from electric shocks on each side of Shusong's chest between the 3rd and 5th ribs. (His father had seen electric baton shocks before so he was able to recognize them.) The police explained that the scars on the chest were from vein penetration. (Anyone who has medical knowledge knows that there are no major veins between the ribs. Usually vein penetration is made above or below the clavicle bones.) On the other hand, us four practitioners were locked together before Shusong jumped off the building and none of us were electrocuted. Before the arrest, we lived together and we were not electrocuted then either, so where did the scars from electric shocks come from if Shusong died after he jumped off a building? Shusong's left wrist was deeply festered and his right wrist had a large bruise. (How can this have resulted from jumping off of a building?) The bones in his heel were exposed and cracked. (If this is the evidence that proved that he died as a result of jumping off the building, who would bring such a severely injured man to the fifth floor and interrogate him for 20 minutes without getting him any medical treatment?)
Because the body was frozen and his parents were too overwhelmed by the grief to investigate further, the condition of the rest of his body remains unknown. At that time, there was a coroner at the site, but he was afraid to answer any questions. After the policemen gave an answer, he merely repeated what they said. All the policemen at the site refused to give their registration numbers or names. They simply urged the family members to get the body cremated. Shusong's mother asked them, "When did he die?" The police said it was on March 6th. Then his mother asked why they didn't inform her until March 8th. The police declined to answer. She asked again, "How did he die?" The police answered, "He was locked up in the corridor of fifth floor. After we unlocked his handcuffs, he ran to the top of the building and jumped off. He was severely injured and died in the provincial hospital." The mother asked to see the medical records and records of the emergency rescue but the police refused to present any evidence. His mother asked again, "What crime did he commit? What confession did he make?" The police said, "He didn't say anything, others confessed his crimes." Then his mother asked to see other people's confessions, but the police refused again. Finally his mother said angrily, "He is not a death penalty criminal, but he died in your hands. And you have no evidence so you will be held fully responsible for his death." The police admitted it was a negligence case. (Can beating a person to death be considered negligence? Can manipulating the story to make his death look like a suicide be considered negligence?)
The policemen found out that the family members were all farmers so they became abusive and urged to them cremate Shusong's body. The family members wanted to hire a lawyer and a coroner, but many people were afraid of the government suppression and refused their request. In such a country where you have nowhere to turn to for a reasonable explanation or to appeal injustices committed, Shusong's parents had to swallow their grief and endure the loss of their beloved son in silence.
Category: Deaths
