Mr. Yang Jianjun Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison Following Forced Labour, Wife Also Imprisoned

Name: Yang Jianjun
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Address: Xuchang City, Henan Province
Occupation: PhD student at Jilin University
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Henan Province Prison in Xinmi City
City: Jilin
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, imprisonment, detention, beatings, home ransacked

Mr. Yang Jianjun went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in 2000. However, he was arrested and sentenced to three years of forced labour at the Xuchang City Third Labour Camp.

In January 2007, police officers stormed into his home in Xuchang City, assaulted him and arrested him again. They also confiscated his computer, printer, and 5,000 yuan¹ in cash.

The officers forcibly grabbed his 10-month-old daughter from his wife Ms. Shen Yuehong, also a Falun Gong practitioner. When Ms. Shen shouted, "Falun Gong is good," four officers proceeded to viciously beat her, held her face-down on the ground, tied up her hands and roughly raised her arms behind her back. One officer stuffed her mouth with a dirty rag, and another grabbed her hair and slapped her face until her mouth started bleeding. Her face and chin were severely bruised.

Mr. Yang was sentenced to 18 months of forced labour at the Xuchang City Third Labour Camp. When his term ended in June 2008, Xuchang City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) director Song picked him up from the labour camp and took him to the Linzhou City Detention Centre. In October 2008, Mr. Yang was sentenced by the Linzhou City Court to 10 years in prison. The Anyang City Middle Court upheld this sentence in April 2010 after he tried to appeal. Mr. Yang was taken to Xinmi City Prison, and his family was not notified.

Ms. Shen was also arrested in May 2008 and sentenced to three and a half years in the Xinxiang City Prison. Their daughter Yang Yifan is currently under the care of Ms. Shen's mother, who is over 70 years old.

Note

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

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/5/14/223611.html