[Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province] Since July 22, 1999, numerous Dafa practitioners in the Xinzhuang Township of Zhaoyuan City have been arrested for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong or practicing in public. Li Shumei, the deputy secretary of the township, and Yang Songbo, the station chief, maliciously beat these practitioners for border security. The tactics employed were so vicious and inhumane that they make people's hair stand on end.

They Used Any Available Method to Torture Dafa Practitioners

1. On December 31, 1999, when Wang Xinghua (alias), a practitioner from XX Village, and 2 other practitioners were practicing outside to spread the Fa, they were taken away by force by government clerks. They turned off the lights and kicked these practitioners brutally. They soaked Wang Xinghua and forced her to stand barefoot in a pool of water.
2. On January 13, 2000, Zhang Qiangsheng (alias), a practitioner from XX Village, was taken away by force to the local government office, where he was severely beaten because his wife went to Beijing to appeal and had not yet returned. After Zhang was returned to the village, he was viciously beaten again until his body was covered with cuts and bruises. Zhang was forced to abandon his home, and his whereabouts are still unknown. He is just one of the many practitioners who have been forced out of their homes.
3. On the evening of January 16, 2000, Li Shumei sent a group of local policemen and unidentified people to arrest 16 Dafa practitioners who were getting together at Liu Xuemei's home. These practitioners were taken to the courtyard of the local government. They were detained separately at first, and then beaten and interrogated one after another. Li Xuemei was beaten with iron rods until she was covered with cuts and she passed out during the beating. Huang Zhenxiang (alias), a practitioner over the age of 60, was stripped down to her underwear. They then forced Huang to wrap her arms around a freezing cold iron pole while squatting. They put a shoe on top of her head. Whenever the shoe dropped, she would be kicked and beaten. There was another practitioner, Li Zhaoxi (alias), whose head was covered with a bucket while being beaten by 6 or 7 people. Wang Hongmei (alias), a female practitioner, was doused with cold water. They tried to make her take off her clothes and run around the courtyard. After she refused, Wang was severely beaten and cursed until she was unconscious. She was then tossed out to the snow, and when she regained consciousness, the beating and cursing resumed. Liu Xiangyu (alias) was hit heavily in the neck with iron rods. 5 or 6 men surrounded her, kicking and punching her. They even hung her up and beat her. They then shocked her until she fainted. Li Shumei and her gang often illegally detained practitioners for 8 or 9 months without any legal proceedings. She didn't allow visitation and sometimes refused sleep or bathroom visits to practitioners.
4. Yang Songbo and one of his policemen with the last name of Zhang grabbed a female practitioner Sun Ling (alias) by her hair, kicking and punching her. While doing so, they cursed her with vile and obscene words.

When she was torturing Dafa practitioners, Li Shumei said straightforwardly: "So what if you are beaten to death? You will die for nothing. We will say that you died from practicing Falun Gong." When the relatives of some Dafa practitioners saw their loved ones being beaten beyond recognition, they went to demand justice from Li and Yang. When confronted, these two denied their criminal acts completely.

They Forced Detained Practitioners to Pay High Monetary Fines

(- Average Family Rural Area Monthly Income 500 yuan translator)

Those who were forced to pay high monetary fines included: Wang Jiaoqin (5,000 yuan), Liu Raohua (10,400 yuan), Yang Zuojuan (7,000 yuan), Wang Xianglan (7,500), Zhang Shuchun (5,000 yuan), Wang Zhijie (5,000), Zhang Shuqin (1,000 yuan), 3 practitioners of Dongliang Village were forced to pay 2,000 yuan, Wang Hongyun twice (7,000 yuan). There were also other practitioners who were charged a few hundred yuan. The reason for these fines was that they practiced Falun Gong.

They Illegally Paraded Practitioners Through the Streets and Put Them in Labor Camps

On February 22, 2000, 5 practitioners were paraded through the streets as a public display. Guo Jianrong, a practitioner from Qiankang Village, was illegally sent to the labor camp for his trip to Beijing to appeal for the truth.

They Lavishly Spent Dafa Practitioners' Funds

Li Shumei, Yang Songbo and others saw bringing practitioners from Beijing as an opportunity for self-indulgence. They spent lavishly during these trips and charged all the expenses to the practitioners. They forced the relatives of these practitioners to pay under the name of "transportation costs". They even said: "Just go ahead and spend. Falun Gong will reimburse us!"

The debts these people have accumulated to Dafa practitioners are mounting as high as mountains, and they have forfeited their own future. Good and evil both have their own rewards and futures.

Li Shumei, Home Telephone: 86-535 8316528

Yang Songbo, Telephone: 86-535 8316405

Xinzhuang County Office, Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province: 86-535 8316601

Office of County Chief: 86-535 8316599