Some Cases of Kidnapping, Physical Abuse, and Extortion in Daqing City

Ms. Li Qingzhen, female, 44 years old, lives in Daqing Babai Shang. Her husband works for the Well Cementation Team of the Heilongjiang Daqing Oil Drilling Company. In 2000, the company forced Falun Gong practitioners to pay 5,000Yuan "bail" (the average monthly income in urban areas of China is about 500 Yuan; in rural areas the earnings are a mere 200 Yuan, or £15). If anyone did not pay the money, he/she would not be allowed to go to work. Meanwhile, practitioners' ID cards were withheld for over one year. On April 28, 2001, along with some other practitioners, Li Qingzhen went to Mingshui County to tell people the truth about Falun Dafa. They were detained by persons from the Mingshui County Police Station, and their vehicle was confiscated. Li Qingzhen was arrested on August 21. In October, she was illegally sentenced to seven years in prison. During the entire trial, the court did not allow the practitioners to have a defence lawyer. All the others were illegally sentenced to labour. Besides the vehicle, the police also confiscated more than 800 Yuan cash, one cellular phone, and two beepers.

Ms. Shi Jing, female, 32 years old, is a resident in Chengfeng Township, Daqing City,. In October 2000, she was on her way to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa, but was intercepted by police in Shanhaiguan, and was illegally detained for 15 days. Later she was illegally detained by her work unit until January 2001. Because she strongly protested against this kind of illegal detention and refused to guarantee not to go to Beijing to appeal, her work unit sent her to the detention centre, where she was detained for nine days. After that, she was taken to a labour camp for a one-year forced labour sentence. On July 16, 2001, she once again went to Beijing to appeal and was arrested for holding up a banner. Because she refused to tell her name and address, she was beaten mercilessly and interrogated by Qianmen Police Station authorities for about 2 hours. During this period, the police choked, beat, kicked, and hit her with wooden boards, grasped her hair and dragged her on the ground, hit her head against the wall, and slapped her cheeks. Because of the brutal abuse, she had a hard time walking. The bruises on her body did not disappear until one month later. Later, she was again beaten, this time by the people in the local liaison office in Beijing, and her nose bled continuously.

After being escorted back, she was detained in the custodial centre for 32 days, and in the detention centre for 22 days. During this time, she went on a 47-day hunger strike to protest, and was insulted and force-fed. In the labour camp, because she refused to answer the roll call, the warden ordered some criminals to beat her and another practitioner who also refused to answer. Later, she was illegally sentenced to two years of forced labour. Because she did not pass their physical examination, they let her out on bail for medical treatment. At the end of December 2001, she was illegally arrested when she was visiting a practitioner's home and detained at the city detention centre. After going on a hunger strike for over a month to protest against the illegal imprisonment, she was released. In October 2000, Song Dongan from Chengfengzhuang Police Station confiscated one computer and one printer, valued at approximately 950 Yuan, from her. At the beginning of February 2001, Wan Qihong from the Power Supply Subsidiary Company withheld part of her salary.

Li Rongfen, female, 52 years old, works in the office for retirement at a transportation company. She lives in Daqing. In April 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. She was later escorted back by her work unit and detained in a detention centre for one month. During this time, as corporal punishment, she was forced to stand in a bowing position for over 5 hours. In November 2000 she went to Beijing's Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Dafa. She was then escorted by the Daqing Local Liaison Office in Beijing to the Taiyangdao Hotel. She was taken back by two people from the work unit, handcuffed all the way. Authorities from the Jianhua police station sent her directly to a detention centre and detained her for half a month. Then, she was transferred to the Sa Qu Detention Centre and imprisoned there for two months. After going on a six-day hunger strike to protest the illegal imprisonment, she was released, but was extorted 600 Yuan for "boarding expenses." In July 2000, her work unit required her to hand in 10,000 Yuan "deposit." Because she refused to pay the money, for a whole year she did not get her monthly salary. Until now, 6,000 Yuan are still being illegally withheld from her. Her ID card has been withheld. In April 2000, she was extorted 1,000 Yuan by someone named Shan Song from the Management Office of the Administrative Bureau. In November 2000, people from the Daqing Local Liaison Office in Beijing extorted 2,635 Yuan from her.