(Minghui.org) Mr. Chen Jianping of Xianning City, Hubei Province, was recently sentenced to three years for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. He has appealed the verdict.

Mr. Chen, a 57-year-old former Xianning City Coal Chemical Bureau employee, was recorded by street surveillance cameras when he distributed information about Falun Gong in early July 2023. The police raided his home days later, confiscating his Falun Gong books, computer and other personal items. He was put on criminal detention after 15 days of administrative detention. The Xian’an District Court sentenced him to three years in June 2024. Other details about his case aren’t clear.

Mr. Chen and his wife Ms. Chen Jingwen took up Falun Gong in 1998. Ms. Chen’s many ailments such as bronchitis, chronic gastritis and chronic enteritis soon disappeared. Their preschool age son Chen Shuang’s poor health also improved.

Because Mr. Chen refused to renounce Falun Gong in the face of the persecution, he was held in a brainwashing center three times and given three labor camp terms for a total of five years. Over 100,000 yuan of the salary he should have received was suspended. In addition to the incarceration and financial persecution, he also has to deal with constant harassment, home ransacking and phone surveillance.

Three Arrests for Appealing for Falun Gong

On July 21, 1999, the day after the persecution officially started, Mr. Chen went to the Hubei provincial government in the capital city of Wuhan to appeal. He was arrested and detained in a school in Wuhan, before he was escorted back to Xianning. He was held in a metal cage in the Yihaoqiao Police Station for a day, and not given any food or drink. He was also deprived of sleep. Guo Hengwu, the deputy director of the Xianning City Coal Chemical Bureau, later picked him up and took him to the bureau for a criticism session where he was verbally attacked for his faith.

Torture reenactment: Detained in a metal cage

Weeks later in August 1999, Mr. Chen went to Beijing to appeal, hoping to stop the government from persecuting Falun Gong. Song Ruisheng, the deputy chief of Wenquan Police Station in Xianning, traveled to Beijing to arrest him. After spending two days at the Changping Shelter Station in Beijing, where Mr. Chen was only given two buns each day, he was taken back to Xianning by Song and his subordinates and detained at the Shuangheqiao Lockup. Mr. Chen was ordered to pay for his living expenses—20 yuan per day. He started a hunger strike to protest and was force-fed.

After 15 days of detention, the police transferred Mr. Chen to a brainwashing session in the Yunquan Hotel. He was held in a room by himself and was not allowed to contact his family. He wasn’t allowed to do anything related to Falun Gong, but was forced to watch propaganda materials and write “thought reports.” He was detained there for a month and had to pay 1,500 yuan to cover the cost of food (50 yuan per day).

After Mr. Chen was released, his manager didn’t arrange work for him to do, nor did they continue to pay his salary. Instead, he was forced to stay in the office every day and read an anti-Falun Gong newspaper. Hu Kaide, the bureau’s political secretary, watched him every day. Du Dean, the bureau’s director, also worked on him and ordered him to renounce Falun Gong.

Mr. Chen went to Beijing to appeal again in December 1999 and was arrested by officers of the Tiananmen Police Station. He was held at the Hubei Province Liaison Office in Beijing for four days before being taken back to Xianning. The police extorted 2,000 yuan from him and detained him at the Shuangheqiao Lockup.

First Forced Labor Camp Term in January 2000

After 30 days of detention, Mr. Chen was given a 1.5-year labor camp term and was transferred to the Xianning City Forced Labor Camp by officer Jin Guoxin of the Yihaoqiao Police Station.

Mr. Chen was forced to dig mud from the ponds during the cold winter and early spring. Even when his legs festered and his bones were exposed, the guards continued forcing him to work. He also did other hard labor including making bricks, digging foundations, loading goods, carrying water and feces and knitting bags. A guard spotted him doing the Falun Gong exercises. The guard immediately ordered the head inmate of his cell to take him to a dark room and beat him.

Because he refused to stop practicing Falun Gong, he was transferred to the Shayang Forced Labor Camp for brainwashing in September 2000. The brainwashing included being forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong, attending marathon brainwashing sessions without sleep, and being pressured to write statements to renounce Falun Gong.

Second Forced Labor Camp Term in August 2001

In August 2001, only two months after Mr. Chen was released, he was arrested again after he was reported for distributing Falun Gong materials in Shuangxiqiao Town, on the northeast outskirts of Xianning. Officers from the Shuangxiqiao Town Police Station took him to the Xianning City Police Department, which detained him at the Maoershan First Detention Center for 45 days and then gave him another forced labor camp term of 1.5 years. He was transferred to the Shizishan Drug Rehab Forced Labor Camp by officer Li Meicheng of the Yihaoqiao Police Station.

The labor camp guards forced Mr. Chen to make tin foil products from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. When everyone else went back to their cells at night, he was forced to continue standing until midnight and write thought reports. The guards transferred him to the Shayang Forced Labor Camp again three months later for intensified persecution.

The guards at the Shayang Forced Labor Camp held Mr. Chen in a strict-management team. As soon as he was taken there, several guards handcuffed him behind his back and shocked him with several electric batons on his face, hands, groin and back. He was in excruciating pain, as if he was bitten by snakes.

Throughout the remainder of his term, the guards often forced him to squat for long hours without moving; if he moved a bit, the squatting hours would be extended. The guards also forced him to watch anti-Falun Gong videos, attend brainwashing sessions and write thought reports and statements to renounce Falun Gong.

Two More Arrests

The police in Xianning conducted a mass arrest of Falun Gong practitioners during the “Bamboo Cultural Festival” in October 2003. Mr. Chen was seized by officers from the Yihaoqiao Police Station and the coal chemical bureau. His Falun Gong books and lecture DVDs were confiscated. At the police station, more than ten officers attempted to take his fingerprints, but couldn’t due to his strong protest. He was taken to the Maoershan Lockup that evening. He held a hunger strike for seven days and was released when he was on the verge of death.

Officers of the Xianning City 610 Office and Yue Yongyao, the president of Antai Appraisal Company, broke into Mr. Chen’s home one day in October 2005 and attempted to take him to a brainwashing center. (It’s not clear why Yue was involved in his case.) Mr. Chen escaped through the back door and was forced to live away from home for four months. His father was dealt a hard mental blow by his persecution and passed away soon after.

Mr. Chen and his wife, Ms. Chen, were arrested again in April 2008 after being reported for giving out Falun Gong materials in Tingsiqiao Town. The Tingsiqiao Police Station officers tore his clothes and confiscated the 400 yuan in cash he had and the key to his home. Officers of the Xian’an District Domestic Security Division broke into his home, raided it, and then transferred him to the Maoershan First Detention Center. Ms. Chen, on the other hand, was held at the Maoershan Lockup for seven days and then taken to the Hubei Province Brainwashing Center in Wuhan City.

Third Forced Labor Camp Term in 2008

Mr. Chen was given a third forced labor camp term of two years after he was detained for 60 days. He was directly taken to the Shayang Forced Labor Camp this time.

At the ninth team, he was held in solitary confinement and the windows were covered in newspapers. Guards He Bingrong, Yu Bangqing and Wei Peng assigned two inmates to monitor him around the clock. He was forced to stand, squat, or sit for long hours each day and was not allowed to move, or he would be beaten. He was also forced to read books slandering Falun Gong and write thought reports.

All Falun Gong practitioners in the ninth team were forced to take an exam in July 2009, which was filled with questions that smeared Falun Gong. Based on their responses to the exam, either not answering them or writing answers to clarify the facts about Falun Gong, the guards divided them into multiple teams and subjected the steadfast practitioners to strict management. During the day, those practitioners were forced to do unpaid labor. During lunch break and the evening, they were forced to squat for one or two hours, without moving. If they couldn’t maintain their posture, the inmates watching them would beat them, often in the restroom where there were no surveillance cameras.

Continued Harassment

Mr. Chen continued to face constant harassment after he was released. On August 2, 2012, Zou Yu, the director of Xianning City Domestic Security Division, and Zhang Huilong, the deputy head of the Chalukou Police Station, broke into his home, searched his place and intimidated him.

Zou, Zhang and Cheng Lebin of Wenquan Police Station broke into Mr. Chen’s home again on February 24, 2014 and confiscated his printer, computer and other belongings. He was first held at the Xianning City Lockup and then taken to the Banqiao Brainwashing Center in Wuhan. Later that year, he was arrested one more time and taken to the Banqiao Brainwashing Center again.

An officer pounded on Mr. Chen’s door on September 25, 2017 for more than ten minutes. He didn’t open it. The officer left after tearing off some Falun Gong themed decorations on the door.

Officers from the Wenquan Residential Committee called Mr. Chen’s cousin in May 2019, asking for his phone number. His cousin condemend them for harassing Mr. Chen and refused to give it to them.

Officers of the Wenquan Residential Committee harassed Mr. Chen at home on the evening of September 29, 2019.

Related Report:

Xianning City Practitioner Chen Jianping Now in a Brainwashing Center