(Minghui.org) A 66-year-old resident of Kunming City, Yunnan Province was released on March 28, 2023 after serving three and a half years for his faith in Falun Gong, only to face constant harassment from the local authorities.

Falun Gong is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Mr. Chen Jingwu was arrested on September 28, 2019 and appeared in a virtual hearing on April 22, 2020. He was sentenced to 3.5 years with a 3,000-yuan fine in late May 2020. His appeal was rejected on July 23, 2020 and he was admitted to the Yunnan Province First Prison on November 30 that year. 

On March 28, 2023, the day of his scheduled release, Mr. Chen found officers from the Qianxing Road Police Station and the Qianxing Road Committee waiting for him at the prison gate. They drove him home and took pictures of him. They also warned him not to go out to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong.

One month later, two officers from the Jiaoling Police Station, including Li Degang, and three Xiyuanbei Road Committee workers came to Mr. Chen’s home to have a “talk” with him. 

In June 2023, Mr. Chen was summoned to the Longxiang Judicial Bureau, where he was forced to sign an agreement to have the bureau “help him understand his guilt in practicing Falun Gong.” They didn’t give him a copy of the agreement, which essentially allowed them to harass him at any time for his faith. They have been calling him every month to “check in on him.” 

Overview of Persecution

Mr. Chen was formerly the head of the performance nutrition department of Haigeng Sports Training Base in Kunming. He became a better person and manager after he took up Falun Gong in 1997, but was repeatedly targeted after the persecution began in July 1999. 

He was given one year of forced labor in 2002 and demoted to maintaining the soccer field after he was released in 2003. Mr. Chen's next arrest in 2004 was followed by a three-year forced labor term, which was later extended by 10 months. His employer suspended his pay throughout his second forced labor term. Unable to cope with the financial devastation and the frequent harassment following his release in 2007, his wife divorced him. 

Mr. Chen was sentenced to three years in prison following his arrest in 2011, and his employer terminated him on October 9, 2013 while he was still in prison. From January to October 2013, his employer still issued him a 500-yuan monthly subsidy, but stopped it after terminating him. Mr. Chen had to do odd jobs to make a living after he was released from prison on March 26, 2014. 

His employer and the local social security office refused to issue any pension benefits to Mr. Chen after he reached retirement age in 2017. His health was damaged after he served his second prison term from 2019 to 2023, rendering him unable to work. With no pension, Mr. Chen is now relying on his meager savings to get by. 

The rest of the article provides details of Mr. Chen’s latest round of persecution. For information about his earlier persecution, please read the related reports listed at the end of this article.

Latest Arrest

At around 4:00 p.m. on September 28, 2019, Mr. Chen had just entered his apartment complex when two plainclothes officers blocked him and asked him if he was Chen Jingwu. He said yes, and one officer confirmed that by comparing a picture of him with his person.

When Mr. Chen asked the two men which police station they were from, they said they were from the Yongchang Police Station in Xishan District. They showed their IDs and then took him to the Jiaoling Police Station. They next called in four more plainclothes officers, whom Mr. Chen learned later were from the Xishan District Domestic Security Office.

The six officers then brought Mr. Chen to his apartment unit. They snatched his key but somehow were unable to open the door even after one hour. They found a locksmith, who couldn’t help either. The police then got an electric drill and connected it to an outlet inside the home of Mr. Chen’s across-the-hallway neighbor. 

During the process, the police also confiscated Mr. Chen’s cell phone and called his family after going through his contacts. His son and nephew arrived at about the same time as the police drilled open the door. An officer flashed a search warrant when asked why they were raiding a private home. Mr. Chen was not allowed to read what was written on the search warrant. The police confiscated his Falun Gong books and informational materials, two laptops, two printers, a box of copy paper, plastic bags and other valuables. They also forced Mr. Chen to stand next to the confiscated items and then took pictures of and videotaped him. 

Restrained in a Metal Chair for One Night

At around 7:00 p.m. that day, the police took Mr. Chen to the Yongchang Police Station and restrained him in a metal chair. One officer got him some food to eat.

Torture instrument: metal chair

About two hours later, several uniformed officers came to interrogate Mr. Chen. He refused to answer their questions or sign the interrogation record. They forcibly took his fingerprints and forced him to give a urine sample. It was about 11 p.m. by the time the officers left. 

Mr. Chen was restrained in the metal chair overnight. At around 9 a.m. the next day, several officers drove him to the Kunming City First People’s Hospital for a physical examination, including X-rays, an ultrasound, and blood tests. They then drove him straight to the Xishan District Detention Center. It was 12 p.m., lunch time for the detention center. They waited until 2 p.m. to get Mr. Chen’s detention processed. 

Mr. Chen was issued a formal arrest warrant on November 5, 2019.

Sentenced to 3.5 Years

At the end of 2019, personnel from the Xishan District Procuratorate twice deposed Mr. Chen at the detention center. He was then indicted by prosecutors Zhang Jianwen and Zhao Wenhui.

Citing the pandemic as an excuse, the Xishan District Court scheduled a virtual hearing for April 22, 2020, without informing Mr. Chen of his right to decline remote court sessions.

Presiding judge Li Lijun and her assistant judges Dong Menli and Kuang Xin, as well as clerk Wu Run, were present at the virtual hearing. Judge Li appointed a lawyer to enter a guilty plea for Mr. Chen. When Mr. Chen asked if the lawyer could enter a not guilty plea, Li said he couldn’t. Mr. Chen read his own defense argument and emphasized that no enacted law in China has criminalized Falun Gong or labeled it a cult. He challenged prosecutor Zhang to provide evidence of how he allegedly “used a cult organization to undermine law enforcement” – a standard pretext used to indict Falun Gong practitioners. 

Zhang couldn’t show any evidence and judge Li ended the session. 

Mr. Chen received a guilty verdict at the end of May 2020. He was sentenced to 3.5 years and fined 3,000 yuan. He filed an appeal with the Kunming City Intermediate Court, which held a virtual meeting with him to verify certain information but didn’t hold an open hearing as he requested. Judge Li Shiyou and his assistant judges Zheng Hong and Cheng Sijin ruled on July 23, 2020 to uphold Mr. Chen’s original verdict. The names of the assistants to the judges, Li Xiujiang, and clerk Guo Xinmeng, were also shown on the verdict.

Abused in Prison

Mr. Chen was transferred to the Yunnan Province First Prison on November 30, 2020. Upon his arrival, he was stripped naked and forced to put on an inmates’ uniform. He was only allowed to keep two items, one being his indictment and the other his verdict. The guards next put a black hood over his head and took him straight to the prison hospital for a 15-day quarantine. After that he was given a physical examination, before being taken to Division One (also known as the Strict Management Team), where he was immediately stripped naked and forced to squat and jump for about five minutes non-stop.

Division One was located in a newly built six-story building at the time. Every floor had an electronic door and about 14 cells. Each cell also had an electronic door and its own bathroom, which allowed the guards to keep inmates in their cells 24/7. 

Falun Gong practitioners held in Division One had the following daily routine: getting up at 6 a.m. and going to bed at 10 p.m. Except for three meals and brainwashing sessions held outside the cells, they were forced to sit on small stools all day long beginning at 6:30 a.m. Only a meager amount of food was provided. Most of the time, breakfast was only a steamed bun. Once a week the practitioners would be given an egg and a steamed bun (on different days) for breakfast. 

Sitting on a Small Stool All Day Long in Own Cell

The prison guards assigned newly admitted criminal inmates to monitor Falun Gong practitioners, with four inmates watching each practitioner. 

Each practitioner was forced to sit on a small stool surrounded by four inmates pushing their knees against the practitioner to prevent him from moving. Since newly admitted inmates must memorize the prison rules, the guards ordered them to recite the rules aloud from a little past 7 a.m. after breakfast until 6:30 p.m. The goal was to force the practitioners to hear the rules.

Every two weeks, the prison would receive a new batch of inmates, and the guards would assign four new inmates to replace the previous ones. The goal was not to allow any inmates to stay too long with practitioners lest they be moved by practitioners’ kindness and resist the guards’ order to persecute them. 

Each practitioner was only allowed four restroom breaks every day, at 6 a.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and before bed. The rest of the time he had to sit on the small stool. 

When it was meal time, practitioners in each cell took turns retrieving their bowls and utensils from a designated place and then returning to the cells to wait for the food delivery. The inmates in charge of delivering meals would push the cart to each cell for the practitioners to get food. After meals, the practitioners went to a place to wash their dishes. After that, it was back to sitting on the small stools until the next meal time. 

After dinner at around 6:30 p.m., all practitioners went downstairs to the lobby to watch the communist regime’s news broadcast before watching other TV programs. They returned to their cells at 8:30 p.m. A daily briefing would then be held. The wash time was at 9:30 p.m., and bed time was 10 p.m. But the light was on all night long. 

Mr. Chen’s buttocks developed infected sores and then calluses after sitting on the small stool for so long. The guards also ordered practitioners to write weekly “thought reports.” Mr. Chen refused to comply. 

Practitioners were allowed to shower twice every week but were only given three minutes each time. Mr. Chen was not allowed to change clothes (not even his underwear) in more than 40 days. He reported to guard Liu Di and the latter allowed him to change clothes on the 45^th day of him being in Division One. After that, every Saturday he was allowed to do laundry with other inmates.

Mr. Chen was only allowed to spend 50 yuan every month on daily necessities. That amount was lowered to 30 yuan six months later. Two guards from the prison’s education department would talk to him every month in an attempt to make him give up his belief. 

A convicted murderer named Gong Qianlong was assigned to “work” on practitioners. He would go around to different cells and try to persuade practitioners to renounce their faith.

Mr. Chen was moved around in between cells and the guards also searched his cell once every three or five days to see if there was any Falun Gong items. He would be ordered to lay all of his belonging on the ground outside. He was not allowed to call his family or have any visitors.

Sitting on a Small Stool in a Workshop

Around June 2021, Division One was relocated to another building, which had a workshop. Starting the next month, all practitioners were ordered to go to the workshop during the day. The workshop was divided into grids, with each practitioner sitting on a small stool in a grid from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Two inmates sat next to each practitioner, one in front of and another behind the practitioner.

The education department placed a TV in the workshop and ordered practitioners to watch programs slandering Falun Gong. 

Mr. Chen and five other practitioners, including Mr. Qiu An (then in his 40s, a native of Hunan Province, serving three years), Mr. Chai Maorong (in his 60s, serving 3.5 years), Mr. He Jianguang, Mr. Wen Chunfu (then 63, serving 4 years), Mr. Zhu Zhongfu (serving 6 years), were ordered to watch the slanderous propaganda together.

The next day Mr. Qiu firmly refused to watch the TV again. He was pepper sprayed in his eyes and the rest of his face. His eyes hurt so much that he couldn’t see at all. His nose and mouth were in severe pain. The guards didn’t order an inmate to take him to the washroom to rinse his eyes and face until about half an hour later. He couldn’t open his eyes until later in the afternoon. 

After this episode, the guards stopped their attempts to make the practitioners watch the slanderous propaganda.

Weeks later, the guards moved in about 60 sewing machines and ordered the practitioners to learn to sew. It was at the height of the pandemic back then, and the practitioners were forced to make body bags. They later made handbags and other products as well.

Brainwashing Sessions

Around May 2022, the education department came up with another method to brainwash steadfast Falun Gong practitioners. There was another building that during the day was only occupied by a few prisoners on night shifts, as all other inmates were made to do hard labor in the workshop. The education department then held brainwashing sessions targeting steadfast Falun Gong practitioners in the lobby of that building. 

Each session only concerned a few practitioners. Those who were forced to renounce their faith against their will would be allowed to return to their cells. Those who still held firm to their faith had to join the next session targeting the next group of practitioners.

The first group of practitioners targeted included Mr. Hou Wenqin (serving 3.5 years) and the aforementioned Mr. Chai, and Mr. He. In the morning they were forced to read print media slandering Falun Gong. After lunch, they were forced to watch videos until 10 at night. They were also ordered to write thought reports every day.

Mr. Chai gave up his belief against his will. Mr. He held firm to his faith and was tortured. The guards hung him up in a cell until close to midnight. He developed abscesses and bumps all over his body. 

Mr. Hou also refused to renounce his faith. Mr. Hou and Mr. He were thus made to attend the second brainwashing session beginning June 2022. The other practitioners targeted included Mr. Chen and Mr. Wu Xingming (then 43 and serving 5 years). Mr. Chen was pepper sprayed as he refused to wear a prison badge.

The aforementioned murderer Gong was brought in to work on the practitioners. He deceived Mr. Chen into believing that the prison was going to sue him for disrupting prison order and extend his prison term. Mr. Chen buckled and renounced his faith against his will. He felt extremely remorseful afterwards and announced that he wanted to nullify his statement.

A third brainwashing session targeted practitioners Mr. Zhu Zhongfu and a few others. The prison was still holding such sessions by the time Mr. Chen was released in March 2023. 

Forced to Do Hard Labor 

In July 2022, Mr. Chen was transferred to Division 11 (which was for the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled). He was forced to do unpaid, intensive labor there, including packing tubes for electronic accessories, making sewing machines and woven bags, as well as installing zippers in clothes.

On March 23, 2023, a few days before Mr. Chen was set to be released, the prison forced him to sign a document titled the “Confirmation Letter of Information of Persons Released from Prison.” The document stated that released prisoners should cooperate with their local authorities in pandemic prevention, when in fact it was to allow the police, street committees, judicial bureaus and other agencies to monitor and harass them. 

Related Reports:

Mr. Chen Jingwu Endures Eight Years of Imprisonment

Becoming a Good Person Following the Principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance

Police Persecute Practitioner Chen Jingwu and His Family