Mr. Niu Jiming,  a disabled person who operates a tricycle 'taxi' to transport people, has been arrested and imprisoned just for transporting practitioners who were carrying Dafa materials. He has not received proper care for his disability while imprisoned.

Disabled Person in Hebei Province Severely Persecuted for Aiding Falun Gong Practitioners

Mr. Niu Jiming, forty-six years old, resides at the 30th Floor of 8 Tielugong House, Fengren District, Tangshan City, in Hebei Province. His left leg was amputated, and his right leg is severely disabled. He earns his living by operating a tricycle to carry people around. On the morning of May 7, 2008, Mr. Niu carried Ms. Chen Liguan, and Ms. Jin Shuxia from Fengren District to Biguyou Village, Huoshiying Town. After they arrived at the village, Ms. Chen and Ms. Jin went to do their business, while Niu waited by the roadside for their return.

After a while, Ms. Chen came back to wait for Ms. Jin. At this time, a villager named Ma Junping found that Ms. Jin was distributing Falun Dafa materials and threatened to report her to the authorities and to extort money from her. When Ms. Jin resisted, Ma summoned the police from the Shiying Police Station. The police took all three, Mr. Niu, Ms. Jin and Ms. Chen to the police station. Subsequently Zeng Xianghai, the captain of the Fenreng District National Security Division, came and interrogated them.

That afternoon, Ms. Chen and Ms. Jin were taken to the Fengren District Jail. Niu Jiming was let go, but his tricycle, handicap card, cell phone, and cash were all withheld. (The cash included 50 yuan that Ms. Chen and Ms. Jin had given him, 14 yuan he earned in the morning, and the money he carried around with him, totaling a few hundred yuan.)

At around 6:00 p.m. on May 14, Meng Yafei and a few unidentified people came to Mr. Niu's house, and without showing any identification they tried to take him away. They told him that he needed to go with them to get his tricycle back. Niu had been sick with fever because of the previous day's disturbance and did not want to go. Meng and the others played a "good-cop-bad-cop" trick and eventually took him away by force. Mr. Nui's family members had no idea where he was taken.

Niu's wife went to the Yongji Street Police Station to look for him that night. The police said they had nothing to do with it. On the morning of May 15, his wife went to the Fengren District National Security Division to look for him. A department manager Mr. Yao and his staff said that they also had no knowledge of Mr. Niu's arrest. On the 16^th, his wife went there again and a Mr. Yang showed her an arrest warrant. It turned out that Meng Yafei, Lu Lijun and the deputy director Liu and Cai had sent Mr. Niu to jail. Since he was severely disabled, the jail had initially refused to take him, but was forced to do so by Meng and others.

Niu Jiming suffered from asthma the next day in the jail. A week later, both his legs became infected. In the ensuing five months, his legs had 14 infections, and were discharging large amount of pus and blood. This led to severe muscle decay and caused the bones to be exposed in his lower right leg and knee.

On the morning of September 12, Mr. Niu, Ms. Chen and Ms. Jin were tried in the Fengren District Court. The whole process was controlled by He Airong and Chen Jianfu of the 610 Office, and Zeng Xianghai of the National Security Division. All three were sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Niu's offense was "obstructing justice through an organization" on account of the DVD and fliers belonging to Ms. Jin and Ms. Chen that were found on Niu's tricycle on May 7.

Mr. Niu's family members got back his tricycle, handicap card, and cell phone after his sentencing. The cash, phone book, and tool kit were withheld. On November 19, Niu was sent to Jidong Prison in Tarngshan City.