(Minghui.org) An 82-year-old resident of Chongqing was arrested on May 12, 2021 and is now held at the Yongchuan District Detention Center. Mr. Dai Dakui was targeted for writing letters to local government officials and urging them to stop taking part in the persecution of his faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual discipline with the universal values of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” It was first introduced to the public in May 1992 and soon spread across China. Due to its popularity and revival of traditional values that the communist regime sought to destroy, the regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999. The persecution has continued to this day.
Mr. Dai credits Falun Gong for curing his many diseases developed while working in the military, including stomach disease, frozen shoulder, rheumatism and joint pain, but he was repeatedly arrested and held in a drug rehab center, brainwashing center and detention center for upholding his faith. He was twice sentenced, to four and five years, respectively. His pension from 37 years of service was also suspended several times.
Below are some details of his previous arrests and detention.
Between September 5 and October 11, 1999, Mr. Dai was held at the Yongchuan City Drug Rehab Center. He was subjected to intensive brainwashing and torture. The authorities forced him to pay 370 yuan for the living expense.
Mr. Dai was held at the drug rehab center the second time between March 6 and 16, 2000. He paid 110 yuan for living expenses and another 400 yuan bail as a guarantee that he wouldn’t appeal with the government for the right to practice Falun Gong.
His third drug rehab center detention was between July 13 and August 4, 2000. He paid 230 yuan for living expenses.
Only two weeks after he was released, both he and his wife Ms. Wu Xiuqiong were arrested and taken to a brainwashing center. They were held there for 46 and 44 days, respectively, and extorted for a total of 3,300 yuan.
Mr. Dai’s next arrest was on January 18, 2001. He was detained at a brainwashing center until February 21 that year. Because he refuted the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax when the video of it was being played in the brainwashing center, the authorities gave him another 15 days of detention and forced him to pay another 200 yuan.
Mr. Dai was arrested and held at the drug rehab center between April 30 and May 11, 2001 for the fourth time. He was forced to pay 120 yuan in living expenses and 3,000 yuan in bail.
For going on a vacation in the nearby Guizhou Province with his wife, both of them were arrested on November 18, 2002 and detained for 15 days under the charge of “disrupting public order.” His workplace that he retired from withheld his pension for six months for a total of 6,329 yuan, with the excuse that he didn’t ask for leave before going out of province.
Five officers broke into Mr. Dai’s home at 11:50 p.m. on February 16, 2003 and ransacked his place. A photo of Falun Gong’s founder and other Falun Gong materials were confiscated. Many of his neighbors were woken up from the raid. Mr. Dai was charged with “disrupting social order” and detained for 15 days. He paid 265 yuan of living expenses.
Prior to a local tea festival, Mr. Dai was arrested again on April 23, 2003. He was first detained for 15 days at a local lockup and then transferred to a detention center and held there for 28 days. The police forced him to pay 495 yuan in living expenses.
The police arrested Mr. Dai on July 16, 2003, after he was reported for making 30 banners about Falun Gong in November 2001. He was sentenced to five years in December 2003 and subjected to sleep deprivation and other torture while serving time at the Yongchuan Prison.
After he was released from the prison, he was arrested and held in a brainwashing center two more times.
Mr. Dai was arrested again on April 16, 2012 and had his home ransacked. After one month of detention at a brainwashing center, he was transferred to a detention center. He stood trial at the Yongchuan District Court on October 16, 2012 and later sentenced to four years in the same Yongchuan Prison. He was released on May 24, 2015, one year ahead of time.
The authorities harassed Mr. Dai several times at home in 2019. When he took a train to Chengdu City in Sichuan Province on January 3, 2020, the train station security checked his baggage and stopped him from going out of town.
The Yongchuan Social Security Office has suspended his pension since September 2020 without providing any explanation.
Related reports:
Elderly Practitioner from Chongqing Writes Letter of Accusation after Illegal Eight-month Detention
Judge Yells at Falun Gong Practitioner: "Am I Interrogating You, or Are You Interrogating Me?"
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Category: Accounts of Persecution
