Summary of Other Articles and News - March 23, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net)

Facts of the Persecution

--Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Liu Mei from Donggang City, Liaoning Province suffered a concussion while she being arrested by police in April 2002. She had a high fever for a long time, and was also diagnosed with tuberculosis. Yet, police still refused to release her. In the beginning of March 2004, her family was notified by Dabei Prison in Shenyang City that they could visit her, so her mother went to see her on March 10, 2004. Ms. Liu Mei was pushed out on a wheel chair, wearing a big mask. She was only skin and bones, and was extremely weak. She had no strength to talk, and could not even raise her head. She had to lay her head beside a phone to talk with her mother.

--Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Xie Guichen from Commune No. 3 in Senshu Village, Baiqi Town, Shulan City, Jilin Province, went to appeal twice according to the law, but for this he was sentenced to eight years of prison, and sent to Tiebei Prison on March 11, 2004. He is very weak from being on hunger strike for a long period of time in the detention center, and he has been brutally force-fed. As he has no strength to talk, one leg is paralyzed, and he needs help to walk, the Prison refused to accept him. In the detention center, Mr. Fu Hongwei has been on a hunger strike, which he continues today. Two prisoners beat him up. He and Mr. Xie are both on hunger strike to protest the detention.

--My son Zhang Su is a Falun Dafa practitioner who was abducted by police from the Wuhan City Station. On the morning of March 12, 2004, around 8:30, Zhang Su was on his way to work. In front of the Changqing School No. 1 gate, he was surrounded by police who came from 3-4 vehicles that had been following him. They kicked him, punched the back of his head, and forced him into the vehicle. They were wearing plain clothes, and carried mini-video-cameras. The teachers and students from the school and people passing by all saw this violence. They asked the villains to show their IDs, and called to report the incident to the police. Community security personnel also tried to stop them. These people then confessed that they were police from Wuhan City.

--Falun Dafa practitioner, Mr. Yang Quanyong was an employee of the Daqing Petroleum Management Bureau. He was sentenced to labor camp in 2001 because he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa, and was locked in the Daqing Labor Camp, where he was inhumanely tortured. Police and prisoners poured cold water on him after stripping off his clothes. They tortured him on the "tiger bench" (1), and tried to force him give up his faith.

--Falun Dafa practitioner, Mr. Li Wenjun was abducted by police from the Changyi District Station in Jilin City, Jilin Province. Mr. Li worked in the Jilin Light Vehicle Plant. He had been sentenced to two years of forced labor in 1999 because he went to Beijing to appeal, and was sent to the Jilin City Labor Camp, where he was cruelly tortured by police and prisoners. He never gave up his faith. In March 2001, he was transferred to the Yinmahe Labor Camp in Jiutai City, Jilin Province, where he still never submitted. He left the labor camp in a dignified manner. Currently, however, he has been abducted again.

(1) "tiger bench": a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall, which practitioners are forced to sit on with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse (see illustration at <http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html>)