| Published: Monday 6th July 2009 |
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Ever since July 20th, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Li Weiling and his wife, Ms. Liu Yan have been continuously pursued, arrested and detained by CCP officials from the following institutions in Heilongjiang Province: Beixing Police Station and Fulaer District Detention Centre and Detention House, Shuanghe Forced Labour Camp and Fuyu Forced Labour Camp in Qiqihar City.
Officer Wan Gang, from the Beixing Police Station has never stopped harassing Mr. Li Weiling and Ms. Liu Yan. In April 2000, Mr. Li and Ms. Liu went to Beijing to petition on behalf of Falun Gong and were arrested and taken back to the Beixing Police Station. A security officer with the last name Yang from the Fulaer District, First Heavy Machinery Plant, confiscated 800 yuan1, an IC card worth 50 yuan and a pen. Later, they were taken to the Fulaer District Police Department where they were berated and beaten. The police officers hit them with a rolled up magazine on their heads and faces, then grabbed them by hair and banged their heads against the wall. Wearing gloves, they caused pain to Mr. Li's genitals. After this maltreatment, they were forced to sit on the iron chair2 and the tiger bench3. They were detained for 45 days and then released after they went on a hunger strike.
Even after they went home, Wang Gang and staff members from the neighbourhood committees constantly called day and night to harass them. When they answered the phone, the caller either did not say a word or intimidated them with obscene words. Their parents grew fearful whenever they heard the phone ring. Before the persecution began, they had their parents' unconditional support for practising Falun Gong. However, after the CCP launched its vicious suppression against Falun Gong and since their parents were indirectly affected by it, they nursed a grudge against Falun Gong. This seriously interfered with Mr. Li and Ms. Liu's practice.
At the end of November 2001, they were arrested again by police officers from the Beixing Police Station, detained at the Fulaer District Local Station and then taken to the Fulaer District Detention Centre. On December 19th, 2001, they were sentenced to 18 months in prison. Because no receipt was given, their family members didn't find out until one and half months later that the police confiscated a computer, printer, some cash and Falun Gong books.
Six months later, Mr. Li Weiling and Ms. Liu Yan were released. But officials of the Fulaer District Local Station continued to restrict their personal freedom by assigning some staff, who tapped and performed surveillance of their home and also constantly harassed them with phone calls. They were arrested again at midnight on April 20th, 2001 by officers of the Beixing Police Station. While there, they were continuously subjected to various methods of torture. Guards strapped their coats and hung them up on an iron gate, and poured cold water on their bodies. The entire staff from the Beixing Police Station (except the station chief, Hao Junfeng ) joined in on this mistreatment and severely beat and verbally abused them.
On May 5th, 2001, Ms. Liu Yan was sentenced to a three-year prison term and taken to the Qiqihar Fuyu Forced Labour Camp. While there, she was subjected to "reform" education (brainwashing). Her spirit and determination were demoralized and she felt she couldn't face Teacher and fellow practitioners anymore. She felt very depressed and almost committed suicide. In the Qiqihar Fuyu Forced Labour Camp, brutal beatings and verbal abuse of practitioners are very common. The officials there could use any random reason to increase prison terms for practitioners. At the end of April 2002, Wang Yan, the Captain from the Second Brigade for the female unit forcefully tried to "reform" Ms. Liu. While being beating by Wang Yan, Ms. Liu's head hit a heater and she passed out. The officials sent her to the Public Security Hospital where she was treated and then tied her to an iron chair. She remained confined in a small dark room, restrained to an iron chair, for two weeks. When they finally released her from the iron chair, she could not walk. One time Zhou Yongkang, (the right hand man of the former Chinese leader Jiang's Standing Committee of the CCP Central Committee Political Bureau) conducted a so-called "spring action" in the Qiqihar Fuyu Forced Labour Camp. The guards ransacked jail cells, tearing mattresses apart in an attempt to find any hidden Falun Gong books or other materials and conducted body searches, which resulted in the suffering of many practitioners. They were either severely beaten and some even tortured to death. Practitioner Mr. Wang Guofang from Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province was missing after that operation. (Some said he had been tortured to death). These types of special operations like the "spring action" were just excuses the officials of the forced labour camp used to mistreat practitioners or extend their terms.
In March 2005, Mr. Li. Weiling was taken to the Qiqihar District local station. In 2006, he was sentenced by the local court to a one-and-a-half-year prison term. For this reason, he was fired by his employer, Fulaer Electric Company and hasn't received any wages ever since April 2000. The Management of the Fulaer Electric Company used all sorts of excuses to withhold his pay.
Later, after their release, Mr. Li Weiling and Ms. Liu Yan were still harassed by officials of the Beixing Police Station and their home was monitored. They couldn't tolerate the constant harassment and compromise of their personal freedom, so they left home and have been travelling from place to place. Lu Chen from the Beixing Police Station uses all sorts of excuses for withholding their ID cards. Without any ID, they cannot process and receive their retirement checks and unemployment payment. They are being denied their citizen's rights to enjoy freedom and retirement benefits.
The telephone number of Beixing Police Station of Fulaer District in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province: 86-452-6724139
Note
1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.
2. Iron Chair: The "Iron chair" is made of iron pipes. Victims are restrained on the iron chairs with both arms and legs tied for a long period of time, see illustration at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/9/17577.html
3. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/6/25/203387.html
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