The Persecution of Mr. Yan Hequan and Mr. Shi Wenshui in Laishui County, Hebei Province

Yan Hequan Sentenced to 11 Years of Imprisonment

Mr. Yan Hequan, 45, is a practitioner in Beilongquan, Shiting Town, Laishui County, Boading City, Hebei Province. He worked in a factory that manufactures engineering models. For refusing to give up Falun Dafa, on August 27th, 2002, he was forcibly arrested by a group of policemen headed by Zhang Jianhua, the police chief of Yi County, and as a result, Mr. Yan was imprisoned in a detention centre. His family members went to visit him via motorcycle, which was worth about 6,300 yuan¹. The policemen confiscated the motorcycle and falsely claimed that the motorcycle was recently used in a criminal case.

In the detention centre, the evildoers attempted to extort a confession from Mr. Yan by means of torture. He was handcuffed and forced to sit on a tiger bench² for a long period of time. In the autumn of 2002, he was unlawfully sentenced to an 11-year imprisonment term by the court in Yi County. Currently, he is being detained in the 6th prison district of Baoding City's First Prison. Mr. Yan's wife, Ms. Zhang Lihua, has been regularly harassed by the police from the local precinct, the public security bureau, and 610 Office³ personnel. Because of their financial hardship, their eldest daughter, 17, was forced to drop out school and get a job away from their home. Their younger daughter still attends junior high, but faces a lot of pressure as a result of the persecution.

Practitioner Shi Wenshui from Zugezhuang Village, Wangcun Township, Sentenced to 9 Years of Imprisonment

Mr. Shi Wenshui, 44, is a resident of Zugezhuang village, Wangcun township in Laishui County, and is an employee of the Train Inspection Department of Shilou, which belongs to the Beijing Railroad Sub-bureau. Many times, he was recognised as the model employee of the year and as a technical expert. On September 11th, 2001, he was arrested simply because he believes in Falun Gong. The arrest happened while he was at his workplace and was perpetrated by employees from Baoding City's organised team and Yi County's public security bureau, who were specifically targeting Falun Gong practitioners. Currently, he's still detained in Yi County's detention centre, where he has been shackled, handcuffed, and has been forced to sit on a tiger bench, while undergoing all kinds of severe torture.

The vicious Captain Ma along with his guards invaded Mr. Shi's house and stole personal belongings that have a net value of almost 10,000 yuan, such as a motorcycle, a colour TV, and a VCD player. Mr. Shi was also unfairly discharged from his workplace and they only paid him a meagre severance pay. In 2002, Mr. Shi was sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment. As a result of his imprisonment, his family now faces financial difficulty. His son who is only 16 was forced to drop out of school and has worked unsteady, sporadic jobs. Mr. Shi's wife still works, but also has to support her mother-in-law.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "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.

3. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/11/16/166689.html