Former Government Official Loses Appeal Against Second Prison Term for His Faith in Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A 61-year-old resident of Meizhou City, Guangdong Province was sentenced to five years with a 50,000-yuan fine for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Mr. Xie Hanzhu recently lost his appeal and was admitted to Beijiang Prison (located in Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province) on May 19, 2023.

Mr. Xie, former deputy chief of the rural energy unit of the Meixian Agricultural Bureau in Meizhou City, and his wife were both arrested on October 20, 2021, by agents from Meijiang District Domestic Security Office and Chengxi Police Station. The police claimed that they were reported for spreading information about Falun Gong. Their Falun Gong books, some cash and other personal belongings were confiscated. While Mr. Xie’s wife was released five days later, he remained in custody at Meijiang District Detention Center.

The Meixian District Court sentenced Mr. Xie to five years on November 30, 2022. His appeal was rejected by the Meizhou City Intermediate Court early this year.

This is not the first time that Mr. Xie has been targeted for upholding his faith. He was previously held in a labor camp for two years and also served 12 years in prison. He suffered various forms of torture during his detention.

Taking Up Falun Gong

Mr. Xie used to suffer from numerous diseases, including frozen shoulder, allergic rhinitis, neurasthenia (chronic fatigue), arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), chronic gastritis, hemorrhoids, and bloody stool. He was always in pain, but all his symptoms disappeared just three months after he began to practice Falun Gong on April 12, 1996.

He also became a better government official with integrity and won many awards for his performance and dedication.

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, he held firm to his faith and was fired from his job as a result.

Two Years of Torture at Sanshui Forced Labor Camp

Mr. Xie was arrested not long after the persecution began and soon given two years of forced labor.

As soon as he was admitted to the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp in December 1999, he was greeted with punches and kicks. The guards beat him so savagely that he felt sharp pain in his chest and had trouble breathing. The pain intensified whenever he tried to speak a bit louder, and lying down was out of the question.

Mr. Xie was subjected to many more forms of abuse during his two years of detention. The guards once shocked him in sensitive areas of the body (ears, neck, nipples, armpits, and soles) with two electric batons simultaneously. They also inserted an electric baton into his mouth and kept it on for nearly an hour. He had blisters afterwards.

Another time a guard punched him in the chest and stomped him on the back with leather boots. The guard also grabbed his hair and slammed his head against the ground. He also kicked and whipped Mr. Xie hard. Later he dragged Mr. Xie to a restroom and pushed his head down toward the pit toilet for ten minutes, forcing him to inhale the fecal odor.

Sometimes the guards forced him to maintain a certain posture for several days in a row or stand in the field under the scorching sun for long periods of time. They also poured cold water on his head for half an hour during the freezing winter.

In July 2000, the guards ordered five inmates to press Mr. Xie on the floor to sit against a bed. Four people then pulled his limbs in different directions as hard as they could. He felt excruciating pain. His hands and feet became swollen afterwards, and for several days in a row he couldn’t bend or squat and had trouble falling asleep at night due to the pain.

Torture illustration: Limbs pulled in different directions

Mr. Xie was also made to work without pay for more than 10 hours a day, sometimes without sleep. If he failed to complete his quota, he would be either shocked by electric batons or flogged with a rubber-wrapped metal whip.

By the time his term ended in December 2001, Mr. Xie had become emaciated and his hair had turned gray. He was not allowed to go home though, as agents from Mei County 610 Office and police department seized him from the labor camp and moved him to various detention facilities in an attempt to make him renounce his faith. He later went on a hunger strike in protest and was released on December 31, 2002.

Horrific Torture in Police Custody

Mr. Xie and five other practitioners were arrested at a material production site (for printing handouts with information about Falun Gong) on February 3, 2005. From February 23 to 28 that year, he was brutally tortured in the Meijiang District Police Department by officers Chen Zhidong, Tian Xuelong, Li Jianlu, Xue Qingwen, and Huang Songfeng, who tried to make him reveal the details of the production site.

The police twisted one hand of Mr. Xie’s behind his back to meet the other hand pulled over his shoulder. They then cuffed the two hands together and attached a rope to the cuff. They hung him up by the rope with his feet off the ground. They dubbed the torture “flying an airplane.”

Torture illustration: Hands cuffed behind one’s back

In another torture session, the police forced Mr. Xie to squat with his back against a wooden chair. They cuffed his hands behind his back to the seat of the chair. One person pulled the handcuff taut, and another person used a club to hit Mr. Xie’s palms and fingers continuously. His fingers became dark and swollen and lost feeling afterwards.

Nonetheless, the police continued their torture with his hands still cuffed to the chair. They tied him up with a rope, covered his eyes with a towel and taped his mouth shut. They next lit two cigarettes and inserted them into his two nostrils, forcing him to inhale the smoke. When the cigarettes were all burnt out, they replaced them with new ones. That night, they used up a total of ten cigarettes. He fainted due to a lack of oxygen. The police poured cold water on his face to revive him.

The police also resorted to a torture that caused severe internal injuries but no visible marks. They forced Mr. Xie to squat and then placed a thick book on his back. They hammered the book hard, causing him severe chest pain.

Another time, the police cuffed Mr. Xie’s hands behind his back to a water pipe. They then pressed his head into a bucket filled with diluted urine. He was thus forced to drink the urine water. When he struggled, they poured the whole bucket of urine all over him. Given the cold and humid weather in February, he was left shivering. The police repeated the same torture the next night. Each night they used six buckets of urine water on him. As if that was not enough, the officers also pressed him down on the floor and stood on his back. His lower back was severely injured as a result, and he couldn’t squat.

Torture reenactment: standing on the victim’s back

The police also tightened his handcuffs to the maximum to inflict the most pain on Mr. Xie. They bent his fingers backwards and pinched his fingernails. They also used toothpicks to prick his buttocks and stomped on his toes (he was only wearing slippers with his toes exposed).

Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Mr. Xie was sentenced to 12 years by Meijiang District Court on August 4, 2005, and admitted to Guangdong Province Third Prison (also known as Meizhou Prison) in mid-September that year.

The prison guards subjected Mr. Xie to various forms of abuse. He refused to renounce his faith and was put under “strict control.” Every day from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m., he was ordered to attend study sessions smearing Falun Gong. When he refused to comply, several inmates pressed him down and beat him savagely.

He shouted “Falun Dafa is good!” and was met with even more abuse. The inmates either spread excrement over his mouth or stuffed his mouth with a rag soaked with water in the toilet bowl. They also put heavy shackles on his feet and brought in two loudspeakers. As soon as he shouted “Falun Dafa is good,” they turned the loudspeakers to the maximum volume to drown out his voice. Eight inmates took turns beating him around the clock in order to force him to give up his belief.

They also forced him to sit on a small stool motionless for long periods of time. Even a slight movement of his lips would result in a slap in the face. His buttocks festered and oozed blood. His flesh got stuck to his underwear, and a piece of his flesh later came off when he tried to undress and shower.

Torture instrument: Small stool

The guards also deprived Mr. Xie of sleep. He was only allowed two hours of sleep every six days. One day, when he refused to write a statement to renounce his faith, inmate Xu Mianyi punched him in the back and knocked him down. One of his ribs was caved in as a result.

After Mr. Xie was released on April 2, 2015, he still faced harassment by the authorities. In August 2019 and June 2021, he was harassed by Deng Chenghua (vice head of Meijiang District 610 Office), captain Qiu of Meijiang District Domestic Security Office, and officers from Chengxi Police Station and the local street committee.

Perpetrator’s contact information:

Beijiang Prison: [phone]

Related Reports:

Once Incarcerated 15 Years, Former Energy Department Chief Gets Another Five Years for His Faith

Mr. Xie Hanzhu Placed Under Strict Control Again in Meizhou Prison