Name: Gao Jianting (高建亭)
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Driver
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 5/21/2010
Most recent Place of Detention: Laiyang City Domestic Security Division (莱阳市国保大队)
City: Laiyang City
Province: Shandong Province
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, brainwashing, beatings, hung up, solitary confinement, torture, extortion, physical restraint, home ransacked, interrogation
Key Persecutors: Ma Shuguang, He Xiao, Liang Bin, Sun, Yu, Wang Yubin
(Clearwisdom.net) Laiyang City 610 Office personnel in Shandong Province suspected that Mr. Gao Jianting helped arrange care for Ms. Liu Zhimei. Ms. Liu was a student in Tsinghua University who was expelled and suffered a mental collapse after enduring extensive inhuman treatment. At 5:00 p.m. on May 21, 2010, officers from the Laiyang City Police Department and the Laiyang City Domestic Security Division arrested him. They held him in the Domestic Security Division, the crime response squad, a brainwashing center in the Party school, and the Zhaoyuan Brainwashing Center. Mr. Gao was released a week later after suffering brutal beatings. The police still unlawfully held an automobile that had been confiscated.
Followed and Arrested
On April 16, 2010, officers from the Bailinzhuang Police Station in Laiyang City arrested Ms. Liu Zhimei, Ms. Gao Chunhong, and three other practitioners. Shortly afterwards, members of the Laiyang City 610 Office suspected that Mr. Gao Jianting had helped take care of Ms. Liu. They sent out special agents to place him under surveillance. Plainclothes officers also followed him and were stationed in surveillance vehicles outside the shop where he works.
Ms. Liu Zhimei is from Sanqing Village in Tuanwang Town, Laiyang City. In 1997, she was admitted to Tsinghua University after making the highest test score in all of Shandong Province. In 2001, at age 21, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison for practicing Falun Gong. She was taken to the Shandong Women's Prison, where she suffered extensive inhuman treatment. In November 2008, just three days prior to her release from the prison, she was injected twice with an unknown substance, which caused her to lose her memory. Her mother, who had been bedridden, died soon after seeing her mentally disordered daughter. Ms. Liu ended up living with her father, who had not been known as a good role model in the neighborhood.
Several local female Falun Gong practitioners took Ms. Liu to live with them, taking turns taking care of her. Ms. Liu was recovering from her mental problems and was able to take care of herself. Then, on April 16, 2010, officers from the Bailinzhuang Police Station arrested her, Ms. Gao Chunhong, and three other practitioners.
At around 5:00 p.m. on May 21, 2010, Mr. Gao Jianting left the shop where he worked at to go to the restroom about 50 yards away. Ma Shuguang, a member of the 610 Office of the Laiyang City Domestic Security Division, rushed out at Mr. Gao from his hiding place. He approached Mr. Gao from behind, grabbed him around the neck, and almost suffocated him. As soon as Mr. Gao caught his breath, he shouted, "Who are you?" Ma replied, "I'm from the police department." Mr. Gao realized what was about to happen and shouted, "Falun Dafa is great! The police are arresting good people!"
Home Ransacked
Ma was scared, so he threw Mr. Gao hard to the floor in the restroom. He held Mr. Gao's head down and ordered two people, who were not aware of the situation, to call the police. Several officers arrived and put Mr. Gao in a car. He was taken to the Domestic Security Division in the police department. They threw him to the floor and took everything from his pockets, including two memory devices, a car key, a ring of other keys, as well as the seven yuan in cash he had. The police then went back to the store where he worked and took the automobile owned by Mr. Gao's employer, the store owner. The officers drove the car to the courtyard of the police department and removed the license plates.
At around 7:00 or 8:00 p.m., Ma Shuguang, He Xiao, and another officer, led by Wang Yubin, the security director of the Xishanting area, arrived at Mr. Gao's rented home in a van. They kicked the door instead of knocking, and after the landlord opened the door, they ransacked Mr. Gao's home. Mr. Gao's elderly third aunt was seriously ill, but the officers showed no sympathy. One officer even cursed her. The elderly lady was intimated and remained unnerved for days.
The police confiscated a satellite receiver, a DVD drive, a mouse, several cell phone batteries, and several telephone and address notebooks. They even took away stickers and staplers used by kids in school. Before the police left, Wang Yubin, the security director, signed the search warrant without consulting Mr. Gao's family or relatives.
Interrogated and Tortured
At around 9:00 p.m. the police took Mr. Gao to the Crime Response Squad. Mr. Gao shouted, "Falun Dafa is great!" as soon as he got out of the car. Ma Shuguan, He Xiao, and Liang Bin punched and kicked him. Liang hit his chin so hard that he almost dislocated Mr. Gao's jaw. Ma stuffed a dirty cloth into his mouth. They threw him on the ground, then stepped on his left foot, which swelled right away.
He was then taken to the interrogation room. The officers restrained him on an iron chair. The officers tortured him for three days and nights. Ma, He, Liang, another officer with the surname Sun, and a fifth officer took part in the torture and interrogation. They tried to find out who took Ms. Liu from her home to take care of her. The officers fabricated charges, stating that taking care of Ms. Liu amounted to detaining her against her will.
Mr. Gao was deprived of sleep, and if he closed his eyes the officers cursed and beat him. The officers continually stepped on his injured left foot to inflict pain. They also grabbed him by his collarbone and shoulders in a manner meant to cause excruciating pain.
Mr. Gao told them it was against the law to torture him during interrogation, and he intended to sue them. Ma Shuguang yelled, "Torture is exactly what I will resort to during interrogation. You want to sue? Go ahead."
Liang Bin pulled Mr. Gao's head back by his hair, He Xiao pressed his head backward, and Ma Shuguang slapped his face with a copy of Zhuan Falun over a dozen times. Ma kept yelling, "You want to sue me? You want to sue? You want to sue so much?"
Mr. Gao's entire face swelled. His lips remained dark purple for a long time. He could not open his mouth to eat. The officers took turns whipping his hands and legs with leather belts. They yelled, "You want to remain silent? You see how you're going to die. We have plenty of time. We have all sorts of methods. We will see if you can remain silent. This is just the beginning." After three days of brutality, the officers did not get a single word out of Mr. Gao.
The Brainwashing Center
On May 24, the officers took Mr. Gao to a brainwashing center in the Laiyang City Party School, where he was handcuffed to heating pipes. Even at night, he was handcuffed and could not sleep on the ground. The following day, Officer Yu from the Yantai Domestic Security Division came to talk to Mr. Gao. Yu had been active in persecuting Falun Gong. He resorted to all sorts of threats and deception. In the end, he said, "Since you have refused to say anything, I will see you this time next year in the prison or labor camp." Mr. Gao replied, "This is not something you have a final say in." Yu laughed without restraint, and said, "Do you know who approves labor camp terms? It is no one other than me! You will see whether I have the final say or not." He told Laiyang City police officers, "Just complete the paperwork and take him away."
On the afternoon of May 26, the police took Mr. Gao to the Zhaoyuan Brainwashing Center. The brainwashing center is located in a deserted gold mine halfway up a mountain, a dozen miles from the city, and security is very tight. No one can tell it is a brainwashing center from the outside. It has been in existence for almost ten years. Practitioners have been taken there throughout the years, and some were unlawfully held there for a year before being released. At least three practitioners are being held there now. Four former practitioners, who have betrayed their beliefs, are working there and are involved in the persecution.
Practitioners in the brainwashing center are each held in an isolation cell. A chamber pot is placed in each cell, and the practitioners are not allowed to leave their cells to use the restroom. Anyone who refuses to cooperate is handcuffed. Lunch consists of only one bun and a mouthful of vegetables. Some porridge plus a little preserved vegetables make up the dinner menu. The conditions would drive one crazy if one was held there for an extended period of time.
Mr. Gao refused to cooperate. On the afternoon of May 28, the Laiyang police took him back to the Laiyang City Domestic Security Division, citing the fact that he did not pass the physical. They asked Mr. Gao's younger brother to bring 3,000 yuan to the Domestic Security Division in exchange for his release. Mr. Gao's brother did not cooperate. The police then ordered his family to take him home. They made up transcripts, then took out the search warrant to coerce Mr. Gao to sign it, which he refused to do. They then told him to sign the list of items the police confiscated. Mr. Gao asked for a copy of the list, and the officers first agreed. Then they reneged on their words. They forced him to sign a form for "parole pending further investigation" before releasing him.
After returning home, Mr. Gao and his employer went back to the Domestic Security Division, demanding the return of the confiscated automobile. The police made up excuses and asked for all sorts of paperwork to avoid returning the car, despite the fact that the car has a full set of transaction and registration records. The car is still being held by the police.
June 14, 2010
