Name: Song Zhiyu (宋志宇)
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: The Hailar Detention Station (海拉尔看守所)
City: Hailar
Province: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, long-term standing while handcuffed behind his back, forced labor, solitary confinement
(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Song Zhiyu, a Falun Gong practitioner, was detained by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for two years. He had only been released for three months when he was arrested again in December 2010 while staying in a hotel in Beijing on a business trip. Then he was taken to Hailar in Inner Mongolia. He was tried on April 14 and again in mid-May 2011.
Song Zhiyu's wife is Zhang Hong. Just after the couple registered to be married, he was arrested and their wedding ceremony had to be canceled. Ms. Zhang found a lawyer for Mr. Song, and she and her family and friends went to Hailar on April 13. However, they were arrested by the Domestic Security Bureau of Hailar and are still being held in the Hailar Detention Station. Her friend, Mr. Liu Fushen, who was arrested with her, was sentenced to two years of forced labor.
Arrested and Taken to Inner Mongolia from a Hotel in Beijing
In 2008, Mr. Song Zhiyu was working in Beijing. At 8 p.m. on September 11, he was arrested by the Changping District Police Station, the Changping District Police Department, and the Changping District 610 Office. His home was ransacked, and he was sentenced to forced labor. He was taken to Tumuji Labor Camp in Jalaid, Hinggan League, and tortured. On February 27, 2009, he was handcuffed behind his back to a water pipe on the fourth floor and made to stand like that for more than four hours. On December 4, 2009, he resisted doing the forced labor, so group leader Zhong Congjun took him to the office. That morning he was locked in a confinement room for about an hour. In the afternoon, he was taken to the fourth floor and detained there alone. He was tortured there for more than ten days.
Only three months after he left the labor camp, Mr. Song went to Beijing on a business trip in December 2010. While staying in a hotel, he was arrested by the Beijing police, who said they wanted him on charges that he helped publish on the Internet the fact that practitioner Mr. Wang Yaheng, who worked for the Hailar Water Supply Station, had been harassed and persecuted. It was said that Mr. Song bought a laptop for Mr. Wang.
On October 28, 2010, five people from the Domestic Security Bureau of Hailar, including Zhang Xuzeng, Wang Fang, and Kong Xiangfu, went to the Hulunbeier Water Supply Station and forcefully took Mr. Wang Yaheng from his workplace to his home. They searched his home but could not find any “evidence,” so they could not do anything. On the afternoon of November 15, three people from the Hailar 610 Office, including Li Jikuan and Bao Haili, went to the Hailar Water Supply Station, where Mr. Wang was working. They tried to arrest him to take him to a brainwashing center. On the spur of the moment, Mr. Wang jumped out of a window on the second floor.
After Mr. Song Zhiyu was arrested again in Beijing, he was taken to Hailar in Inner Mongolia. Mr. Wang Yaheng was also arrested again. Both of them are now in the Hailar Detention Center.
Wife and Friend Arrested for Trying to Help
Because the Hailar Court was scheduled to sentence Mr. Song Zhiyu and Mr. Wang Yaheng on April 14, 2011, Mr. Song's wife, Ms. Zhang Hong, and friend, Mr. Liu Fusheng, visited the Hailar government office on April 13. They found Bao Xiuming, the CCP secretary of Hailar, and told him about Mr. Song Zhiyu's case. Bai Xiuming quickly told Ms. Zhang and Mr. Liu to leave. He said, “Do not talk to me; people from the police department will be talking to you soon.” Then he notified the police to arrest Ms. Zhang and Mr. Liu.
By that time Mr. Liu had already left the gate of the district government, but the police gave chase, arrested him, and took him back to the government office. In trying to resolve Mr. Song's case, Ms. Zhang Hong and Mr. Liu Fusheng were detained. After Mr. Liu was detained for more than 30 days, he was sent for two years of forced labor. He is now in the Hailar Forced Labor Camp. Ms. Zhang has been held in the Hailar Detention Station since April 13. She has been detained over the legal limit.
As of June 10, 2011, Mr. Song Zhiyu and Mr. Wang Yaheng have been tried twice, once on April 14 and again in mid-May. Early hopes that things might be concluded and they get a stay of their sentences have not come to pass. Now things are unclear and the situation might not be resolved any time soon.
Ms. Zhang Hong is still in the Hailar Detention Station. She was arrested on April 13. In mid-May, Zhang Xuzeng, the vice group leader of the Domestic Security Bureau of Hailar, said that Ms. Zhang would be sentenced to two years of forced labor, but she was never taken to the labor camp. When her family asked for the documents regarding forced labor, Zhang Xuzeng said that the situation might get better and the family did not need to do anything, but Ms. Zhang is still in the detention station. They have not released her, approved the detention, or taken her to a labor camp.
Mr. Liu Fusheng Detained in the Hailar Forced Labor Camp
Mr. Liu Fusheng was taken to the 1st group of the Hailar Forced Labor Camp in mid-May for two years of forced labor. His family would like to find a lawyer to appeal on his behalf, so they asked the Hailar Domestic Security Bureau for the relevent documents, which should have been given to the family. Vice group leader Zhang Xuzeng promised on the phone that they would give the documents to the family. However, after the family traveled more than 1800 kilometers and arrived at Hailar, Zhang Xuzeng refused to admit that he promised to do this and said that the documents had already been given to Mr. Liu himself.
In the Hailar Labor Camp, Mr. Liu's family asked to see him on family visiting day (every 10th of the month), but the police refused to allow it. When the family asked the police to given them Mr. Liu's forced labor documents, this request was also denied. The police said that the labor camp did have a copy of Mr. Liu's documents, but they could not give them to the family. They had the family go talk to the forced labor committee. A committee member told them clearly that the documents should have been given to the family. When the family told him that the labor camp refused to hand them so this person said, “No problem, I will call the labor camp.” It is not clear what transpired in the conversation, but after the phone call, the committee member left and the family could no longer find him.
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