(Minghui.org)
Name: Liu XiangChinese Name: 刘祥Gender: MaleAge: 75City: TieliProvince: HeilongjiangOccupation: UnknownDate of Death: February 28, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 7, 2018Most Recent Place of Detention: Tieli City Detention Center
A Tieli City, Heilongjiang Province, man passed away on February 28, 2024. Mr. Liu Xiang was 75. He is survived by his 76-year-old wife, two daughters, and a son.
Mr. Liu’s passing capped decades of persecution, together with his wife, Ms. Li Xiurong, for their shared faith in Falun Gong. Since the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution of this spiritual discipline in 1999, Mr. Liu was arrested six times and Ms. Li five times. Both of them served time in labor camps and were sentenced to prison with probation in 2018.
Below is Mr. Liu’s own account in 2019 of the persecution he and his wife suffered.
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I was first arrested in April 2002, after being reported for making photocopies of informational materials about Falun Gong. An Xijun, the deputy chief of Shuangfeng Town Police Station, took me to the police station, while Guo Xiquan, the police instructor, led two officers, Zhu Yan and Zhang Yongqian, to raid my home. My Falun Gong books, picture of Falun Gong’s founder, exercise music tapes, and Falun Gong lecture tapes were confiscated. My wife was also taken to the police station for interrogation. Both of us were later taken to the Tieli City Lockup.
While we were detained, the police often harassed our relatives and extorted 4,000 yuan from them. The police initially said they would detain us for 15 days, but they didn’t release us until seven months later.
Both my wife and I were arrested in May 2004 for distributing Falun Gong materials. Wang Yuzhang, the chief of Weiguo Police Station, interrogated us. Because we refused to answer their questions, they beat us, slapped us in the face, and handcuffed us. The police took my wife home to search it. Our Falun Gong items were confiscated again.
After taking us to the Tieli City Lockup, the police often returned to interrogate us. Without due process, I was given one year and nine months in the Suihua Forced Labor Camp, and my wife was given a one-year term at the Harbin Drug Rehabilitation Center. Due to her physical condition, she was denied admission and taken back to the lockup. As her condition continued to deteriorate, the lockup eventually sent her home, fearing that she might die in its custody.
At the Suihua Forced Labor Camp, each of the over 200 Falun Gong practitioners detained there was monitored by two inmates around the clock. We weren’t allowed to talk or walk around without their permission. Every day, they forced us to sit on small stools motionless, while keeping our backs straight. Those who refused to renounce Falun Gong were also deprived of sleep.
A guard surnamed Zhao once crushed a practitioner’s toes with his shoes. The practitioner’s toenail fell off. The toe bled profusely and was bruised. I also saw guard Shi Jian hit practitioner Mr. Li Shaotie on the forehead, which was badly swollen and bruised. The guard director Diao Xuesong also slapped Mr. Li in the face. Five of his teeth were knocked out.
We were also confined in solitary, socked with electric batons, and burned with cigarettes. On top of the physical abuse, we were also forced to do hard labor for at least 16 hours a day without pay. If we couldn’t finish the daily quota, guard Jin Qingfu would whip us with a bamboo strip.
When my term ended in September 2005, Chen Tie, the head of the Tieli City 610 Office, and Nie Yongli, the political instructor of the Shuangfeng Town Police Station, forced my family to pay 500 yuan before releasing me.
I was ordered to report to the Shuangfeng Town Police Station in December 2007 and sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. I refused to comply. Police instructor Nie came to my home and ordered officers Liu Chunjiang and Zhu Yan to ransack it. My Falun Gong books, picture of Falun Gong’s founder, and items I used to do the exercises were confiscated. Police chief Zhao Yunkun beat me and interrogated me. I was taken to the Tieli City Lockup that evening.
The police and 610 Office head Chen came to the lockup the next morning and continued to interrogate me. They whipped me with a belt with a metal buckle. When I fainted from the pain, they poured cold water over me to wake me up and continued the beating. I was tortured for more than four hours. My mouth was full of blood and I was covered with bruises.
The police later took me to the Suihua Forced Labor Camp to serve another term. I don’t even know how long the term was. Because of my poor physical condition, the labor camp refused to admit me. I was taken back to the lockup and released in April 2008 when my condition worsened.
Officer Liang Xiwen with the Shuangfeng Town Police Station and Wang Ershuang with the Forestry Police Department broke into my home in December 2011 and raided it. My Falun Gong books, picture of Falun Gong’s founder, four cell phones, one DVD, and other items were taken away.
Both my wife and I were taken to the Forestry Police Department. Wang tortured her on the tiger bench. When she fainted, he poured cold water over her and continued to torture her after she came to. She almost died. During the few days we were held there, we were deprived of sleep and not given anything to eat.
The police later took me to the Forestry Prison and my wife to Tieli Prison. She was forced to wear a 15-kg (33-lb) shackles and was often beaten and verbally abused by two inmates.
Forestry Police Department officials regularly harassed our families and threatened to sentence us if they didn’t pay them. My wife’s brother was forced to treat the police to a meal and pay them 3,000 yuan. We were released shortly after.
But only weeks after our release, the police submitted our case to the procuratorate, which indicted us and moved the case to the Forestry Court. To avoid being sentenced, my wife and I were forced to live away from home. Yet the police continued to harass our relatives, including our two daughters who were living in other cities.
I was arrested in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, on October 23, 2017. After a few days at the Anshan Detention Center, I was transferred to the Tieli City Detention Center. I was forced to clean the rooms and often beaten and verbally abused by the inmates.
Li Yi of the Forestry Procuratorate fabricated materials to frame me. He later transferred my case to the Nancha County Procuratorate, which arranged prosecutors Xu Yongxiang and Tang Hao to depose me multiple times. After my case was moved to the Nancha County Court, judges Wang Xiaodong and Li Hao also deposed me.
Due to a medical emergency, I was taken to the hospital emergency room on February 10, 2018. The detention center director feared that I might die while still being detained and arranged my release on bail shortly after.
My wife was arrested in Taian County, Liaoning Province, on December 19, 2017. After spending one night at the Anshan Detention Center, she was taken to the Yichun Detention Center. She was forced to clean the rooms and watched closely by the inmates. They added excessive salt to her food and water and would beat her if she refused to consume them. The head inmate forced my wife to clean her body when she had menstrual period. My wife also told me that the authorities regularly collected samples of her blood, which might have been put in the database for organ harvesting. She struggled with poor health due to the abuse and went into shock several times.
I was arrested again in Haicheng City, Liaoning Province, on June 7, 2018, by Tieli City Police Department officials. Two days later, my wife and I were made to stand trial together at the Nancha County Court. My wife fainted during the hearing. They resuscitated her and continued the hearing. Judge Li Ping sentenced me to one year with one year probation and a 1,000-yuan fine and my wife to six months with one year probation and a 1,000-yuan fine. Court clerk Zhou Dongdi was also present.