(Minghui.org)

Name: Han ShiminChinese Name: 韩仕民Gender: MaleAge: 59City: N/AProvince: BeijingOccupation: N/ADate of Death: March 31, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 27, 2021Most Recent Place of Detention: Yanqing Detention Center

A Beijing resident was released due to his poor health, shortly after his arrest in 2021 for practicing Falun Gong. The local court later sentenced him to prison and constantly harassed him at home, threatening to take him into prison. Succumbing to the mental pressure, Mr. Han Shimin passed away on March 31, 2024. He was 59.

Mr. Han, his wife Ms. Yang Jinxiang, Ms. Wu Fangling and Mr. Guo Jinshan were arrested on June 27, 2021. Mr. Han was soon released on bail, after he experienced serious medical conditions at the Yanqing District Detention Center, including having excessive blood in his urine. Mr. Guo was kept at the Yanqing District Detention Center, and the two female practitioners at Changping District Detention Center.

Upon returning home, Mr. Han was unable to find a caregiver. He demanded to have his wife released to care for him, but to no avail. Officers of the Yongning Police Station also harassed him on a regular basis, sometimes saying to him, “Why you are not dead yet?”

The Yanqing District Procuratorate indicted them in November 2021 and moved their cases to the Yanqing District Court. The four practitioners stood trial on April 8, 2022. Their families learned on August 9, 2022 of their prison sentences: Ms. Wu was given two years and eight months, Ms. Yang to two years and four months, Mr. Han to one year and ten months, and Mr. Guo to one year and four months.

As Mr. Han remained weak after his conviction, the bailiffs often harassed him at home, ordering him to have physical examinations and threatening to take him into custody. Under tremendous pressure, Mr. Han suffered significant weight loss and was unable to eat. He passed away on March 31, 2024.

Past Persecution of Mr. Han

Mr. Han took up Falun Gong on December 16, 1996. He appealed in Beijing for the right to practice Falun Gong several times between November 1999 and 2001. Every time he went to Tiananmen Square, he was arrested, beaten, and taken back to Yanqing District. The Yanqing police beat him, shocked him with electric batons, slapped him in the face, and whipped him with leather belts.

Torture reenactment: Electric shocks

Mr. Han was arrested again on July 26, 2001. The police shocked him with electric batons at the Yuegezhuang Police Station, handcuffed his hands behind his back, held him to the ground, then placed a chair on his body and sat on the chair to prevent him from getting up. He suffered severe internal injuries and had difficulty breathing. The handcuffs cut deeply into his wrists, leaving deep scars. The police then whipped him with a shoe, causing his teeth to be knocked out. He also lost hearing in one ear.

Mr. Han was later transferred to the Wen’an County Detention Center and sentenced to seven years at Qianjin Prison. The prison guards forced him to stand all day long, with only three or four hours of sleep. He was forced to do unpaid labor, deprived of family visits, and prohibited from buying daily necessities. He was on the verge of death from the torture. While he was resuscitated, the doctor issued four critical condition notices of him. He was taken back to the prison after being discharged, and kept there until his term ended in 2008.

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