Mr. Li is not allowed to meet with his lawyers.

Mr. Lu Yunlai Dies Two Months after Release from Forced Labor Camp (Photo) 

Name: Lu Yunlai 
Gender: Male
Age: 47
Address: Jinshui District, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province
Occupation: Former employee of Henan Province Irrigation Management Bureau
Date of Death: October 30, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 28, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Baimiao Forced Labor Camp in Zhengzhou City 
City: Zhengzhou
Province: Henan
Persecution Suffered: Forced labor, beatings, torture, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Mr. Lu Yunlai began practicing Falun Gong in 1997. He repaired motorcycles, washed cars, and ran a small restaurant to support his family. Mr. Lu was a very intelligent and hardworking man. After he started practicing Falun Gong, he became healthy and lived a happy life.

After July 1999, under the huge pressure of the persecution of Falun Gong, Mr. Lu still persisted in his practice, and he was harassed and detained by the authorities multiple times. At around 3 p.m. on September 28, 2008, Mr. Lu and his wife Ms. Cao Xia planned to go to their family-owned restaurant to work, but as soon as they stepped out of the house, they were arrested by several plainclothes officers, including Shakoulu Police Station Director Wang Ting and officer Wu Xiaojie (female). The police ransacked their home and detained the couple in Matougang Detention Center in Jinshui District.

Officers from Zhengzhou City Police Department interrogated Mr. Lu while torturing him with a method referred to as "Roasting the Whole Lamb". Mr. Lu passed out during the interrogation.

Lu Yunlai was transferred to the 1st Ward of Falun Gong Forced Labor Camp with a one-year term. He was brutally beaten and forced to do a long labor shift. Guard Ma Junfeng and prisoner Gao Lei beat Mr. Lu with a wooden stick, causing it to break in half. Because he had to sit for more than a dozen hours to do forced labor each day, Mr. Lu's buttocks developed sores that became infected.

By March 2009, after only four months in the labor camp, Mr. Lu Yunlai's health had significantly deteriorated as a result of torture and abuse. The camp authorities did not notify his family that Mr. Lu had contracted tuberculosis. By the end of July 2009, Mr. Lu had developed fluid in his legs and abdomen (medical term: liver ascites), suffered an enlargement of his liver and spleen, had pulmonary tuberculosis, fluid between the layers of tissue that line the lungs and chest cavity (pleural effusion), and intestinal obstruction. He was then taken to the hospital for an examination. It was found that cancer cells had spread throughout his organs. He also had severe anemia and an electrolyte disorder. He was emaciated. Falun Gong Forced Labor Camp did not want to take any responsibility for Mr. Lu's condition and asked his family to request that he be bailed out for medical reasons.

When Mr. Lu's family rushed to the labor camp, they learned that he had been checked into the hospital and diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. Lu Yunlai died on October 30, 2009, two months after being released from Baimiao Forced Labor Camp.

Mr. Lu Yunlai after being released home

Mr. Li Zhigang's Right to Appeal Denied by 610 Office

On November 12, 2009, the District Court in Nangang, Harbin City illegally sentenced Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Zhigang to five years in prison. His family hired attorneys to represent him in court. However, the District Court and the Detention Center rejected he lawyers' requests to meet with Mr. Li. As a result, the lawyers have yet to obtain Mr. Li's signature, which is needed to appeal.

On February 28, 2009, officer Li Shuxin from the Harbin City 610 Office, Wang Liguo and Hao Xidong from the Domestic Security Team of Nangang District Precinct , and Ma Liang and Li Zhijie from Hexing Road Police Station arrived at Mr. Li's home and took him away. Mr. Li has now been detained at Nangang District Detention Center for 9 months. He was brutally tortured during interrogations over the course of three days by Wang Liguo and Zhou Songbin from Nangang Precinct and others from the 610 Office.

On April 2, 2009, Wang Baolong and others from the Nangang District Procuratorate issued an official arrest warrant for Mr. Li. On May 14, 2009, they filed a lawsuit against him in the District Court.

On October 30, 2009, the District Court held a public trial for Mr. Li in remote Wanggang Township. Only Mr. Li's parents were allowed to attend under the scrutiny of officer Fang Xiangrui and Shan from the District Domestic Security Team. Other relatives and friends of Mr. Li were not allowed to attend the proceedings. On the day of the trial, the Wanggang Township Court was closed down and under tight security.

Mr. Li appeared in court and stated that he was brutally interrogated and tortured. His lawyer refuted the evidence provided by the public prosecutor, Wang Baolong. Prosecutor Wang had little to offer in response to the defense lawyer's powerful arguments.

On November 3, three days after the trial, Hexing District CCP Secretary Shao Liqing and her male colleague visited Mr. Li's parents. Also present was officer Wang Zhengang, who had previously extorted 6,000 yuan from Mr. Li's parents in exchange for releasing Mr. Li after he was detained for going to Beijing to exercise his constitutional right to appeal for Falun Gong. Shao tried to get Li's parents to persuade him to admit his guilt, but his mother refused because she knew that her son had not done anything wrong. Shao's colleague then threatened that the parents would also be implicated. Mr. Li's father asked whether the whole family would be implicated in this fabricated case. Shao then did an about-face and said, "We are only here to check if you have any problems. Do you need any help from us?"

Mr. Li's mother replied, "Yes, there's a problem. My son's car (license plate number L16B99) has been taken away by officers from the Hexing Road Police Station and we saw it being driven a few days ago. Help us to get it back!"

Shao said, "Okay. I'll help and ask around." However, so far Shao has not contacted them.

On November 12, 2009, chief judge Yan Xiaoshuang, with the assistance of assistant judge Ma Rongyao, Song Chengzhang, court clerk Lu Jingwei from the Nangang District Court, and prosecutor Wang Baolong from the Nangang District Procuratorate, in collaboration with the 610 Office, sentenced Mr. Li to five years in prison.

On November 17, 2009, assistant judge Son Chengzhang from the Nangang District Court called and notified Mr. Li's lawyer, Li Changming, of the verdict. The lawyer asked the court to send the verdict to his law firm in Beijing. However, Song replied, "We don't have the money [to send you the verdict]. You will have to come get it in person."

Mr. Li's mother decided to continue to seek justice for her son and hired lawyers Li Changming and Lin Jinglin to file an appeal for Mr. Li.

On the morning of November 23, the two lawyers went to the District Court to look for Judge Song Chengzhang and retrieve the verdict statement. They then went to the District Detention Center to see Mr. Li. However, the director of the detention center, Sun Wei (police badge number 018169), claimed the court would not allow them to see Mr. Li. The lawyers immediately returned to the court and called Song. Song denied the lawyers' request and shouted, "Why don't you just sue me?"

Lawyer Li then called Chief Judge Yan Xiaoshuang, Deputy Court Director Sun Jixian, Chief Judge Dong Xingdong, and others during office hours but none of them was available. The lawyers had no choice but to return to the District Detention Center. Sun Wei still denied the lawyers' request to see their client. Lawyer Lin said, "We have the legal right to see him. You are violating the law if you don't allow us to see him."

Sun Wei shouted, "Just sue me!"

The two lawyers waited until noon and left without seeing their client.

In the afternoon, the two lawyers and Mr. Li's parents again went to see Sun Wei in the detention center. However, Sun still rejected their lawful request. He said, "It's okay if you want to see him, but it has to be approved by the 610 Office."

At the time of this writing, Mr. Li had not yet been able to sign the documents that are necessary for him to appeal his sentence because he has not yet been allowed to see his attorneys.