(Minghui.org) A man from Jiaozhou City, Shandong Province, served six years (2018 to 2024) for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. He was released on August 8, 2024. Mr. Du Zhaocai recently recounted what he endured while he was incarcerated.
Mr. Du, in his 50s, was arrested on August 8, 2018, and admitted to Division 11 of Shandong Province Prison on July 5, 2020. A convicted murderer, Lu Guobao, was tasked with “lecturing” him in an attempt to make him give up his belief.
Lu ordered Mr. Du to get up at 6 a.m. and sit on a small stool motionless until 11 or 12 every night. He also forced him to watch videos slandering Falun Gong.
Wang Chuansong was named the division head in mid-September 2020 and he instructed the inmates to torture jailed Falun Gong practitioners. On October 5, 2020, convicted murderer Sun Youda, drug addict Xu Chao, and white-collar criminal Wu Kejun took Mr. Du to the torture chamber located on the first floor. Guard Chen Shuo, deputy division head, directed the three inmates to torture Mr. Du.
Sun put a straitjacket on Mr. Du and held him down in a chair. Mr. Du, who stood at 5’3’’, tried to stand up, and Sun, who stood at over 6’2’’ and weighed over 265 pounds, punched him hard in the stomach. Sun then tied Mr. Du’s arms to the back of the chair (see image below).
Torture illustration: Tied to a chair
Sun lit a cigarette and blew smoke into Mr. Du’s face, while Xu and Wu pinched his arms. They didn’t remove him from the chair until about 30 minutes later.
Officer Chen then asked if Mr. Du would now agree to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. He said he would not, and Chen instructed the three inmates to keep torturing him. The inmates then put the straitjacket on him and restrained him in the chair again.
Mr. Du submitted after being held in the chair for another hour and wrote the required statements to renounce Falun Gong against his will.
The guards next ordered him to watch and read Buddhist books and videos. Two months later, they forced him to do hard labor. The long-term work and torture damaged his health. His blood pressure shot up, and he had to take four breaks just going from the first floor to the fourth floor. When the guards took him for an electrocardiogram, the doctor said he was at risk of dying at any time. The guards stopped forcing him to do hard labor after that.
Mr. Du was moved to Division 14 on July 5, 2021. While the guards there did not make him do hard labor, they kept “having conversations” with him because he was found to talk to other Falun Gong practitioners and refused to write routine thought reports. Such “conversations” often lasted all day and late into the night, sometimes as late as 2:30 a.m.
On July 20, 2021, the guards moved Mr. Du to the high-security section on the sixth floor. He was put in a room (less than 150 square feet) and watched by criminal Zhang Guangwei around the clock. He had to eat and relieve himself in the same room.
The room had several bright lights but a very small window. The walls were padded. Inmates Wang Guituan, Sun, and Wu Jinda once forced Mr. Du to stand from morning to midnight every day for a whole week. His blood pressure shot up; he felt very tight in his chest, and his stomach was churning. He struggled to fall asleep at night.
Inmate Wu yelled one day that division head Wang instructed them to have Mr. Du stand for three days in a row without sleeping. The first night, he soon felt unwell, and inmate Li Wenda, who had a medical background, took his blood pressure. Li then instructed inmate Wang to give Mr. Du hypertension medications and reminded the latter to check his blood pressure once every hour. Inmate Wu soon came and said Mr. Du no longer needed to stand anymore.
On October 4, 2021, Mr. Du wrote a solemn declaration to nullify all statements he was forced to write to renounce and denounce Falun Gong against his will. He gave the declaration to division head Wang.
Wang was transferred away two weeks later and Mr. Du was moved back to Division 11, with Liang Jingda named the new head. Liang again put Mr. Du and other steadfast practitioners in the high-security section. He instructed the inmates not to treat the practitioners as human beings and forced the practitioners to watch videos slandering Falun Gong. Each practitioner was also forced to do two-hour night shifts every day. They were restricted in taking showers, drinking water, using the restroom, and purchasing daily necessities.
On January 1, 2022, Liang ordered all practitioners to raise their fists to pledge allegiance to the national flag. Mr. Du refused to comply and was forced to sit on a small stool for long periods.
During the COVID-19 pandemic period, when Mr. Du refused to get the immunization, Liang instructed the inmates to carry him to the hospital. Other practitioners faced the same fate, and Mr. Wang Zhongshi, a practitioner in his 70s who was later persecuted to death, had his belt broken by being dragged to the hospital.
At the height of the pandemic during November 2022, Mr. Du and other practitioners were moved to the fifth floor and forced to sit on a small stool all day long. After the New Year in 2023, the pandemic eased, and the practitioners were moved back to the high-security section on the sixth floor. They had to get up 30 minutes earlier than other inmates, but went to bed 30 minutes later than others. While other inmates were allowed to take a nap after lunch, these practitioners had to sit on a small stool all day long. At night, they had to do two-hour shifts.
Around April 2023, the right side of Mr. Du's face was paralyzed, and he had splitting headaches for more than two weeks. Every time he had to lie down, he felt the world was spinning. His right ear became much bigger than his left. It hurt and he couldn’t hear out of it. He also struggled to walk in a straight line. Despite all this, he was forced to sit on a small stool and do night shifts. The sitting torture didn’t stop until June 2023.
The high security section was dismantled in October 2023, and Mr. Du and other practitioners were moved back to regular cells. They were still forced to sit on small stools but were allowed to take a nap in the middle of the day. They also didn’t have to do night shifts and were given eggs to eat. Mr. Du, however, still struggled with high blood pressure and often had readings around 200/130 mmHg when a normal range is 120/80 mmHg or lower. He had trouble sleeping at night and was emaciated.
When the prison doctor told him to take medications, he refused, fearing the prison was giving him toxic drugs. The doctor then ordered him to sign a waiver relieving the prison of responsibility. He refused to sign because he wouldn't have ended up in that condition if he hadn't been subjected to relentless torture and abuse. Guard Wang Dong cursed him and instructed the inmates to videotape him being forced to sign the waiver.
Guard Chen once threatened to make trouble for Mr. Du’s family as he still held firm to his faith.
Mr. Du was released on August 8, 2024.
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Shandong Couple Imprisoned for Their Faith, Wife Abused in Custody
Shandong Couple Sentenced to Six Years for Their Faith
Chinese Villagers Call for Release of Couple Detained for Their Faith
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