Mr. Tien Jinzhi was arrested in October, 2009 and his family was not informed until after his death in custody ten days later.
Mr. Tin Jinzhi Dies in Custody
Name: Tian Jinzhi
Gender: Male
Age: 60
Address: Dianzi Village, Economic Developing Zone, Weifang City, Shandong Province
Date of Death: October 10, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: October 1, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Kuiwen District Police Department
City: Weifang
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention
Mr. Tian Jinzhi went out on October 1, 2009 as he normally did, but he never returned home and his whereabouts were unknown. On October 11, 2009, his family was suddenly notified by Kuiwen District Police Precinct that Mr. Tian Jinzhi died around October 10, 2009 while in custody.
Mr. Tian's family is very angry, as they cannot believe such a healthy man could die in custody in such a short time period unless he was tortured severely. They were horrified to find that his body had been cut open and his organs seemed to have been disturbed. They are strongly doubting the official cause of his death, after the police told them they had cut open his body to find out the cause of death. They are wondering why they were not asked for permission before officials cut open his body. Mr. Tian was a very healthy man, and the police could not find any medical problems to cover up the fact that they had tortured him. The family is trying to find out who beat him to death.
Mr. Tian's family do not practice Falun Gong, and they are now shocked to learn from their own experience that Falun Gong practitioners are being brutally tortured and killed. They said with tears, "Even a homicide criminal should not be beaten to death like this. Where is the justice?"
Mr. Tian was previously arrested and taken from his home at around 10:00 a.m on March 15, 2008 by Xuanwu Police Station in Kuiwen District. The police extorted 10,000 yuan from his family and then released him.
On August 20, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Tian was reported to the police while he was talking to people about Falun Gong on Wenhua Road, and was again arrested by the Xuanwu Police Station. The police took away his Falun Gong books and exercise tapes. On that afternoon, he was released only after his family paid 2,000 yuan.