(Minghui.org) The family of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Shi Mengchang went to Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center on January 26, 2014, to see him and his wife, Ms. Han Shujuan, also a practitioner. After they were given permission to see the couple, the guards claimed that if the family hadn't hired an attorney, the two would have been released long ago.
According to the family, the couple was emaciated, but didn't seem to be in low spirits. However, Mr. Shi couldn't raise his arm and walked very slowly.
The family had gone to the center on January 23, 2014, to demand his release. The guards would not let them see Mr. Shi and denied the accusation that Mr. Shi had cut his wrists.
Authorities Attempt to Cover Up Evidence
Mr. Shi's family got a message from Qinglongshan Hospital in mid-January 2014 that he had been taken to the hospital for an emergency in the morning of December 20, 2013. They claimed that he had slit both wrists the previous night and had lost a lot of blood.
He was given 1200cc of blood in the emergency room. His family went to the hospital to investigate and were told that Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center officials had hired a doctor from another city to stitch the cuts on Mr. Shi's wrists. It is believed that this was an attempt to cover up criminal evidence.
Tortured in Brainwashing Center
During Mr. Shi's three months in Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center, officially labelled the “Political and Legal Affairs Committee Education Base” of Heilongjiang Provincial Farm Bureau, he was threatened and tortured.
The stretching method was used on him. They tied his legs and arms to two separate beds with his body suspended in the air. His extremities soon became numb. In order to cover up the criminal evidence, the guards cushioned his wrists and ankles with towels to keep from leaving any telltale marks.
Refusing to Show Identification During Arrest
The couple is from Qixing Farm, Jiansanjiang, Heilongjiang Province. About a dozen police officers from the Xicheng District surrounded Mr. Shi's home at about 9 a.m. on September 23, 2013. Chief Li Xudong, political instructor Guo Tingjun, Liu Yan, and about six officers broke into the home. They dragged Mr. Shi and Ms. Han to the police car by their hair, arms, and legs. They never showed any identification or followed any legal procedures.
The couple was taken to Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center. The authorities refused to show a warrant but said that the couple had to undergo “transformation.”
Mr. Shi's mother said, “How do they intend to 'reform' a good person who cultivates his moral character, such as my son? Any dynasty would have a rule against such incidents, but nowadays I cannot find a place or an official to even hear my appeal!”
Incarcerated in Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center
53 Falun Gong practitioners have been held in Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center since April 2010.
The 610 Office transferred practitioners Liu Shufen, Jiang Xinbo, and Xiang Bin to the center after their prison terms were over.
Tortures methods employed at the center include forced standing, forced squatting, beatings, slapping the face, sleep deprivation, burning the chin with fire, striking the ribs with a metal bar, force-feeding, and handcuffing the hands to two beds.
Practitioners Formerly Incarcerated in Qinglongshan File Lawsuit
On New Year's Day 2014, over ten practitioners who were once persecuted at Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center and their relatives traveled to Harbin. Including the family of Mr. Shi and his wife, Mr. Yu Songjiang's mother, and the practitioners' friends and attorneys, there were 20 in all. The next day they went to the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Procuratorate.
Practitioners Wu Dongsheng, Huo Jinping, Liu Rangying, Jiang Xinbo, Chen Dongmei, Li Yanxiang, Shi Xiuying, Meng Fanli, Meng Xianjie, Pan Shurong, and Wang Pingzhong were also present.
Attorneys Zhao and Wang entered the Procuratorate to file a complaint. Then, attorneys Liang and Li and attorney Liang's client, Wu Dongsheng, entered the Procuratorate. They filed their clients' joint complaint and explained the criminal facts. At 2 p.m. that day, the practitioners, friends, and attorneys went to the Procuratorate again and filed their individual complaints.
Parties Involved in the Persecution:
Fang Yuechun, male, 58, chief of Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center and head of the 610 Office: +86-13846125557 Tao Hua, female, 47, deputy chief of Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center: +86-13555430238 Fang Xiumei, female, 44, in charge of finance at Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center: +86-13734535052 Zhou Jingfeng, male, about 25, staff at Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center: +86-13634654646 Zhu Xiaofeng, male, about 25, staff at Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center, +86-454-5700569
