Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Liu Zhirong Tortured to Death at the No. 3 Prison in Gansu Province

It has been verified that Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Liu Zhirong was tortured to death at the No. 3 Prison in Tianshui City, Gansu Province. His wife Chang Xiuling has left for Tianshui City to make funeral arrangements. The details of his death require further investigation.

At 3:00 p.m. on January 13th, 2006, officials from the No. 3 Prison in Tianshui City went to the Nanjie Police Department in Qingyang City. Police agents went to Liu Zhirong's home and told his wife to rush to Tianshui City overnight. The prison authorities claimed Liu Zhirong had been ill but refused treatment, and then committed suicide. They would not allow Liu Zhirong's family to view the body or take the body home. [Note: Suicide is prohibited by the teachings of Falun Gong. In the vast majority of these cases, the practitioners were murdered, and the Chinese authorities called it a suicide in order to avoid responsibility and to further defame Falun Gong.]

Liu Zhirong was a 42-year-old teacher at Tuanjie Elementary School in Qingyang City. On December 4th, 1999, Liu Zhirong, Xu Feng and several other Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. After they returned, the police arrested and held them at a detention centre for more than 70 days.

Officer Zheng Xiang from the Xifeng District Police Department's National Security Division savagely beat the practitioners. On April 10th, 2000, Zheng Xiang enticed Liu Zhirong to leave school and come to the police department. Once there, the authorities arrested and sent him to a drug rehabilitation centre to persecute him. The officials later publicly humiliated Liu Zhirong at a so-called public "attack" meeting and paraded him through the streets. The Communist regime sentenced him to one year of forced labour and sent him to the Pingantai No. 1 Forced Labour Camp in Lanzhou City on April 25th, 2000. He was released on July 1st, 2001.

On April 28th, 2002, Zheng Xiang led a group of police officers to the Tuanjie Elementary School. They attempted to coerce Liu Zhirong to fingerprint a document. Liu Zhirong refused. The officers kicked him to the ground and stomped on him. They also struck his body with batons in front of the school staff and the children. They forced him into a police car while verbally abusing him. The Chinese police exposed their villainous nature in broad daylight, before the public.

Later, the officers went to Liu Zhirong's home and ransacked it. They broke several locks and went through all of the boxes and drawers. They turned his home upside-down. On the afternoon of April 30th, the officers took Liu Zhirong to a detention centre. Liu Zhirong said, "I'm not a criminal!" He held onto the door and refused to enter. The officers beat him and dragged him inside a cell. Liu Zhirong held a hunger strike to protest the persecution, and eventually lost consciousness. The officers not only did not release him, they sentenced him to three years of forced labor. When Liu Zhirong was eventually transferred to a drug rehabilitation centre, he protested and was again viciously beaten. The officers carried him inside by force.

On the afternoon of July 28th, 2002, Liu Zhirong escaped from the centre. The police searched for him everywhere. They invaded and lived at his home for several days. They intimidated his wife, Chang Xiuling to turn him in.

Liu Zhirong was arrested while living away from his home. In late October 2002, the Chengguan District Court in Lanzhou City sentenced seven Falun Gong practitioners to prison terms of between 10 and 20 years, charging them with "production and broadcast of a Falun Gong VCD via the cable TV network." Liu Zhirong was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Toward the end of October 2003 he was transferred to Dashaping Prison in Lanzhou City where he was held in solitary confinement, and subjected to other forms of persecution. On December 25th, 2003, he was transferred to Dingxi Prison in Gansu Province where he was further persecuted.

In late 2005, Liu Zhirong and six other detained Dafa practitioners were transferred from Dingxi Prison to the No. 3 Prison in Tianshui City. Here, Liu Zhirong was tortured to death by the guards in Prison Ward No. 1 sometime on or before January 14th, 2006.

No. 3 Prison in Tianshui City, Gansu Province
Address: No 196 Jianshe Road, Tianshui City, Gansu Province
Wei Xinggang: head of the prison
Zhang Xiping: head of the prison clinic

Liu Hongtao: a guard who tortures Dafa practitioners
Wang Zhiying: a guard who tortures Dafa practitioners, 86-938-8271415
He Dingping: a guard who tortures Dafa practitioners, 86-13519083681
Head of Division 3: 86-938-8278968, 86-938-8278987
Deputy head: 86-938-8278938, 86-938-8278956, 86-938-8279086

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/1/17/118851.html