Engineer Mr. Xu Weidong's Wrongful Ten-Year Prison Sentence Ends Soon, Family Threatened by 610 Office

Name: Xu Weidong (徐卫东)
Gender: Male
Age: 49
Address: Wenjiang District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province
Occupation: Metallurgical Engineer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 2002
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jianwei County Wumaping Prison (乐山犍为县五马坪监狱)
City: Chengdu
Province: Sichuan
Persecution Suffered: Illegal sentencing, beatings, hung up, imprisonment, torture, interrogation, detention

(Minghui.org) Mr. Xu Weidong, a Falun Gong practitioner from Heilongjiang Province, was illegally sentenced in secret to 10 years in prison by the Sichuan Chengdu Qingyang District Court in 2002. On May 14 this year, his wrongful prison term will come to an end. However, Mr. Xu's relatives are being threatened by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities from both Heilongjiang Province and his place of residence, Wenjiang District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province.

Mr. Xu, 49, a former metallurgical engineer, was incarcerated in Sichuan Guangyuan Prison, then transferred to Leshan Jianwei County Wumaping Prison. Because Mr. Xu refused to renounce Falun Gong during his 10 years in prison, the prison authorities and the Sichuan 610 Office made it very difficult for his family to visit. Mr. Xu hasn't had a visit nor a phone call from his friends and relatives in 10 years. At one point, his relatives didn't know his whereabouts or whether he was dead or alive. The outside world can only get little bits of information about him from random sources on occasion. It has been learned that Mr. Xu has suffered severe beatings, torture, and abuse in prison.

According to the law, a prisoner should be released when his or her term ends. Jianwei County Wumaping Prison authorities promised on the phone that Mr. Xu would be released even if the 610 Office government official was not present. However, the CCP authorities of the Heilongjiang Heihe City Aihui District called Mr. Xu's younger sister and said that they needed to understand Mr. Xu's situation and would transfer his case. Officials from the Chengdu Wenjiang District 610 Office even declared that if they were not present, Mr. Xu's relatives would not be able to pick him up from the prison. This has really worried Mr. Xu's family.

Unjustly Imprisoned, Brutally Beaten, and Abused

Guangyuan Prison is located in the mountainous region of East Sichuan Province. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners at this prison is very severe. Practitioner Xu Langzhou from Panzhihua City, a former outstanding police officer, recently died at the Sichuan Armed Police Hospital as a result of the persecution. He was detained with Mr. Xu in Guangyuan Prison, then transferred to Wumaping Prison. Like many other Falun Gong practitioners there, they suffered from various perverse torture methods employed by the prison authorities for remaining steadfast in their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and persisting in maintaining their dignity as human beings.

Torture Re-enactment: Hanging Up in the Air

One time, the prison guards tried to try to force practitioners to wear prison uniforms and do hard labor. Maintaining his innocence of any crime, Mr. Xu refused to cooperate and ignored the guard's demands. He was handcuffed and hung up in the air by guard Wang Bin for two hours in the rain. Later, commander of the Fifth Division Chen Liang and guards including Wang Bin, Zhou Guangyong, and He Tao stripped Mr. Xu down to his underwear. They handcuffed him to a metal gate and dressed him in the prison uniform. Mr. Xu was then dragged by prisoners Ma Shiyin and Su Xiaoping from upstairs to the drill ground to attend assembly and roll call.

From August through December 2003, because practitioners Xiao Hongmo (who has died as a result of the persecution), Xie Hongming, Lin Jun, and Mr. Xu Weidong erased slanderous words about Dafa on the chalkboard, they were beaten by guards Ran Wei, He Zhong, Gou Jianfeng (who has beaten practitioners the most), and Miao Yun of the Guangyuan Prison Second Ward.

On March 18, 2009, a gang of well-trained felony prisoners led by guards Li Senquan, He Bin, and Yang Xianghe brutally beat practitioners on the drill ground in broad daylight. Many practitioners were injured or disabled. Some had broken skulls and bled profusely. Their clothes were bloodied. The guards then took five practitioners, including Mr. Xu, to the office on the second floor for further torture. Practitioner Min Qinjun's skull was broken and he was covered in blood. Yang Zhengming's foot was injured and he could barely walk. Mr. Xu's feet were shackled and it was even harder for him to move. Tao Yuan, a graduate school student at Beijing Normal University, has suffered from cervical dislocation since then.

Assistant ward head He Bin pushed Mr. Xu down and beat him violently while shouting, “There's no payback even if I beat you to death!” Guard Li Senquan, who was standing nearby at the time, violently threw a basketball at Mr. Xu while He Bin was beating him, but the spinning basketball hit He Bin in the face. He Bin's glasses were knocked off, and his nose started bleeding. His right hand was instantly fractured, and he could not lift it. He had no remorse and blamed it on Mr. Xu.

On June 10, 2010, Mr. Xu was transferred from Guangyuan Prison to Leshan Wumaping Prison where he is still being illegally detained.

Mr. Xu's Wife Persecuted, a Happy Family Destroyed

Mr. Xu's wife, Ms. Sun Fenghua, has also suffered persecution over the past 10 years. In April 2001, officers from the Yongning Police Station arrested her while she was visiting a practitioner in Wenjiang District Yongning Township. When the officers went out to lunch, they left Ms. Sun handcuffed to the metal fence on the second floor window. She broke free of the handcuffs and saw a highway on the other side of the balcony. She climbed over and jumped off the balcony toward the highway and lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, she had been arrested again. Two officers beat her brutally and hit her arms and legs with a “Wolf’s Fang” stick, which is a rubber stick containing thorns and filled with lead. Her limbs were severely bruised. They also used a reinforcement bar to whip her, which mangled her face. Ms. Sun passed out when her feet were struck by the “Wolf's Fang” stick.

Torture Re-enactment: Brutal Beating

In the evening, the officers took Ms. Sun and another practitioner to Wenjiang County. Ms. Sun was taken to a detention center. Within ten minutes, she was fetched for interrogation. Ms. Sun was shown a photo and asked if she recognized the person in the photo. She said she did not. She was then taken to the Tianfu Town Police Station. An officer grabbed her by her hair and threw her to the ground. Ms. Sun was severely beaten and kicked. Later she was transferred to the detention center and detained for more than 40 days.

At 4 a.m. on April 30, 2002, officers from the Wenjiachang Police Station broke into Ms. Sun's home and arrested her and her fifteen-year-old son. Ms. Sun was forcibly dragged off the bed before she had time to put on her shoes. The skin on her heels was torn open. That night, Ms. Sun and her son were taken to Chengdu. Ms. Sun was sentenced to three years of forced labor. Her son was also held in the detention center.

At the forced labor camp, Ms. Sun stayed steadfast in her belief and was forced to stand against a wall for 55 days in the cold winter. She was not allowed to sleep. If she sat down and fell asleep, the other prisoners would be implicated and have their terms extended. After being forced to remain in a standing position for several days in a row, Ms. Sun couldn't stand anymore. Even though she tried to hold on to the wall or a metal stool, she fell and became unconscious a few times. Due to sleep deprivation, Ms. Sun had black circles under her eyes. The “Baojia” (inmate assigned to monitor and torture practitioners) gave her the nickname “National Giant Panda Treasure.” Ms. Sun was confined to a small room during the day. During the night, she had to stand all night in the courtyard. She was also subjected to beatings by the Baojia. Ms. Sun could not walk unless she bent over and raised her arms backwards and tried very hard. She had to hold on to the wall to climb the stairs and even couldn't carry a small container of water. The Baojia called her “Little Penguin.” In fact, Ms. Sun was at least 1.65 meters (about 5' 5”) when she was in good health.

When Ms. Sun stood facing the wall, the criminal inmate assigned to monitor her would kick her from behind and follow with more kicking and beatings. One one occasion, Ms. Sun's head hit the wall and her mouth bled. When she used the bathroom, the Baojia would start yelling and rushing her as soon as she squatted down. They wouldn't let her finish taking care of her needs. The prisoners also tried to destroy Ms. Sun's spirit and force her to “transform” by slandering the founder of Falun Dafa with extremely vicious, malicious, and indecent language. There were some collaborators who worked with prison guards to attack Ms. Sun. At night, a few collaborators would push her against a desk, put a pen and paper in her hand and say, “If you write it (the Three Statements), we'll make a report and let you wash up and sleep.” Ms. Sun refused to cooperate and was beaten and forced to stand. The prisoners said that they were keeping her awake by beating her.

Ms. Sun was not allow to wash. Her hair became dirty strands and she reeked. She was not allowed to use the bathroom unless it was specially requested. Right after breakfast, the Baojia would bring in a bucket of water and made everyone have a glass. Anybody who refused to drink would be force-fed. A practitioner named Jiang Xianfeng didn't cooperate and was force-fed with water until she became pale. Another practitioner couldn't hold her urine anymore and urinated in her washbasin. The Baojia saw it and broke her washbasin. This practitioner was taken upstairs and beaten until she passed out.

During the 2003 Chinese New Year, Ms. Sun was still being forced to sit all night. The Baojia assigned to monitor her were changed very frequently. Every day there would be a different inmate. There were kind ones that would let her sleep for a little while. On New Year's day, Ms. Sun was allowed to go upstairs and sleep at 4 a.m. By the time she got to bed, she could no longer lie down. Her whole body ached. And she had to get up at 6 .am. For 55 days, Ms. Sun did not sleep. She was mentally traumatized by the torture of prolonged sleep deprivation.

An inmate said, “I am going to finish the task that commander Li (a prison guard) assigned me.” She put heavy tape over several practitioners' mouths at midnight, handcuffed them, and brutally beat them. She forced the practitioners to drink urine and to lick spit off the ground. From the time everyone went downstairs in the morning until midnight when everyone went upstairs, the 10 plus practitioners were forced to form a line and practice military drill commands. Each one of them had to carry a book on top of her head and a piece of newspaper between their legs. If any one of them dropped something, all the practitioners would have to do ten squats. If each person dropped something once then it would be more than a hundred squats. Ms. Sun's back ached terribly and she couldn't even do 10 squats. Ms. Sun and two other practitioners were called to go downstairs at night. The prisoners first beat Ms. Sun, then forced her to march. Ms. Sun and the other practitioners were forced to march until midnight.

The practitioners that were illegally detained there during 2003 were forced to do needlework and pick boar hair with tweezers. Some elderly practitioners could not see the boar hair. They couldn't finish their quota during the day and had to work until 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. When there was needlework to be done, each practitioner had to finish 7 Liang to 1.2 Jin (about 0.9 lb to 1.6 lbs). If they finished early, the quota would be increased by 1.5 to 1.8 Liang (about 0.2 to 0.24 lbs). The result would be 2 Jin (2.68 lbs) of needlework. The prison authorities would do anything for their own profit.

On January 5, 2005, Ms. Sun was released. She finally saw her son, whom she hadn't seen for three and half years. Ms. Sun's son was only 15 years old when his mother and he were arrested. The boy was fetched for interrogation every other day. While in detention, he was forced to exchange the cash he had on him into so-called meal tickets, which were later taken by the cell coordinator (a prisoner) to exchange for snacks. After seven days, he was thrown out onto the streets. He only had a few yuan to take a bus home. Their home was in total disarray. All the electronics and valuables had been confiscated, with only a few comforters and clothes left. The lease to their home was about to expire. Ms. Sun was sentenced to three years of forced labor and her son didn't know where his father was. An aunt who helped him soon got arrested and died as a result of being force-fed salt water. The poor child did not have a chance to recover from the series of traumas before he had to drop out of school and start working to feed himself. Ms. Sun had always felt guilty about her son. If the tragedy at home hadn't happened, her son would be going to college right now. He did well in 8^th grade when she was arrested. Yet he understood, and tried to comfort his mother.

No Visit with Family in Ten Years

When she was at the forced labor camp, Ms. Sun didn't know how her son was doing or about her husband, Mr. Xu Weidong. After she was released on January 5, 2005, she asked around and finally found out that her husband, Mr. Xu, had been illegally sentenced to 10 years in prison and was incarcerated in Guangyuan Prison.

In order to pay the rent and feed her family, Ms. Sun took a job despite the mental and physical trauma she had experienced. As soon as she got her first paycheck, she went to visit her husband, Mr. Xu. She brought her family registration booklet and went to Guangyuan Prison. However, the prison guards said that she was an impersonator and didn't let her visit Mr. Xu.

Ms. Sun went to Guangyuan Prison again on June 26, 2005. She took her certificate issued by the police station showing that she was Mr. Xu's legal wife, but she was still not allowed to visit her husband. The guards said that she had to have paperwork from the 610 Office to show whether or not she was a Falun Gong practitioner. Ms. Sun insisted that she had to know whether or not her husband was alive and how he was doing. A female guard called the warden, and Ms. Sun saw that the guards' expressions kept changing. The female guard told her, “Your husband refused to 'transform' and insisted that he is right [to practice Falun Gong].” Ms. Sun asked to send some clothes to Mr. Xu. She went to the prison and asked to see the warden. The guard spoke to the warden on the phone and then told her that the warden didn't have time. After he was transferred from Guangyuan Prison to Jianwei Wumaping Prison, Mr. Xu's family was again turned away when they tried to visit him. During the past 10 years, Mr. Xu's relatives have tried to visit him four times but to no avail.

Now that Mr. Xu's prison term is about to end, the officers from the 610 Office of both Heilongjiang Province and the Wenjiang District have attempted to intervene. Many times in Chengdu, when prison terms have ended, practitioners have been directly taken to and illegally detained in underground prisons, such as the Xinjing 610 Office and brainwashing centers. Three examples are Professor Yang Jingxia of Sichuan University; an outstanding teacher, Liu Hui, of the Chengdu Jinqin Street; and Fan Ying, a practitioner from Shuangliu. Last year, right after being released, Yin Shirong, a Falun Gong practitioner, was forcibly taken away from his family in front of the Chongqing Forced Labor Camp. Yin was seized by the authorities and officers from the Chenghua District and taken to the notorious Xinjing 610 Office. The lawyer that Mr. Xu's relatives hired has not been allowed to visit him. The lawyer's attempt to lawfully sue the Chenghua District authorities for their criminal act was denied. Mr. Xu's relatives are also being threatened.

The Xinjing 610 Office uses insidious methods to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, and many practitioners have died as a result. Wang Mingron, the former Matron of Chengdu Kangfu Hospital, died last year after having only spent a few days there. The cause of death is still unknown and her family has been threatened by the authorities. Because of the above incidents, Mr. Xu's friends and family are very worried. They hope that everyone will pay close attention to his case and that Mr. Xu and his family will be reunited soon after having endured and suffered so much.

Relevant agencies:

Chengdu City Wenjiang District Government: [phone] (Office)
Chengdu City Wenjiang District Yongsheng Township Government: [phone]
Chengdu City Wenjiang District Hesheng Township Government: [phone]
Chengdu City Wenjiang District Court: [phone] (Office)
Chengdu City Wenjiang District Procuratorate: [phone] (Office)
Chengdu City Police Department Wenjiang District Police Station: [phone] (Office)
Chengdu City Wenjiang District Gongping Justice Bureau: [phone]
Chengdu City Wenjiang District Yongning Justice Bureau: [phone]