(Minghui.org) Police from the Longtan District in Jilin illegally arrested 66-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Changhai for handing out Shen Yun DVDs. They were intent on making things difficult for him. The Longtan District Procuratorate rejected the case, however, saying that the incident did not warrant an arrest. But the Longtan District Police Department Subdivision Bureau has refused to release Mr. Li.
Mr. Li was offering Shen Yun DVDs to people on February 17, 2012. When he was arrested, he was stripped, beaten, and taken to Jilin Detention Center. His home was also raided. When his family visited him in the detention center, they discovered that Mr. Li was delirious as a result of being brutally beaten. He was incoherent. Fifteen days later, staff from the Longhua Police Station and the Longtan Police Department collaborated to keep Mr. Li in the detention center without following any legal procedures.
On March 26, 2012, Mr. Li's family received his arrest warrant, but it was blank and there was no signature, which is not legal. His family hired a lawyer, but Mr. Li remains in the detention center.
Ten days ago, his lawyer notified his family that his case had been returned to the Longtan District Police Department Subdivision.
On July 2, 2012, three of Mr. Li's family members went to Longtan District Police Department, demanding Mr. Li's release. They found the person in charge, Hu Guanghua, who insisted that the case was still in the Procuratorate. His family told Hu that the case had been rejected by the Procuratorate and that there was no warrant for arrest. Hu Guanghua replied, “If the case was rejected, we will release him immediately.” He picked up the phone and made a call to the Procuratorate. When he found out that Mr. Li’s case had indeed been rejected, he stated that he had no authority to release anyone, as Mr. Li had committed a crime, and they had to wait for a verdict from the court. The family firmly pointed out that the case had been rejected and there was no crime committed. They stated that they knew the legal procedure and that it was a police department problem. They indicated that they wanted to talk to the director. Hu Guanghua said that would not help the matter.
One of Mr. Li’s relatives pointed out, “We watched Shen Yun ourselves. It was all singing and dancing, promoting traditional Chinese culture, and there were two programs about the persecution of Falun Gong. If we had not personally experienced the persecution ourselves, we would still not believe that the police could be so vicious, beating and killing citizens and violating the law. Now we believe the performance was truly real. We also hope you will watch the Shen Yun DVD. By signing the paper, you will be legally responsible in the future.”
The family asked to see Mr. Li, but Hu Guanghua would not allow it. The family then demanded to know what law Mr. Li had broken to justify his arrest, and said that if anything happened to Mr. Li while he was in custody, they would take legal action against the authorities involved. Hu continued to refused their request.
Longhua Police Station in the Longtan District, Jilin City: +86-432-63039367
Zhang Zhonghai, director
Ai Yedong, deputy director
Zhu Junmin, political instructor
Longtan Police Department Subdivision:
Wang Yi, director: +86-432-3037105 (Office), +86-432-2024868 (Home)
Hu Guanghua, in charge of the case
Please refer to the original Chinese text for more names and telephone numbers.
