(Minghui.org) Mr. Xu Yan, 53 years old, is imprisoned in Hulan Prison, Heilongjiang Province. He was arrested on May 10, 2014 for practicing Falun Gong.
He was secretly tried by the Shuangcheng City Court and sentenced to three years in prison. Mr. Xu and his family wanted to appeal the sentence. However, the vice presiding judge Hu Yelin threatened Mr. Xu's family that he would get a heavier sentence if they pursue an appeal.
Arrested and Home Ransacked
My name is Xu Yan. from Xiaomatun Village, Handian Town, Shuangcheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province.
When I was alone at home, five officers from the Handian Town Police Station and Zhou Cunfu, Xiaomatun Village came to my home on May 10, 2014. Officer Zhang Shaogang and another officer grabbed me and asked if I still practiced Falun Gong.
They claimed that someone told them that I practice Falun Gong. I told them that it was true, since it was not against the law. Three ransacked my home while two held me down. They also took video recordings.
My neighbor walked in to see what was going on and was driven off. They confiscated my printer, projector, DVD player, and clothes. After I was taken to the police station, they went back and got my computer and other personal belongings.
They questioned me at the police station, and I again told them that I did not do anything against the law. They took me to the Shuangcheng Detention Center.
Shuangcheng Detention Center
Officer Zhang Rui and two other officers came to the detention center on May 13. One of them said that his name is Wang Yubiao and that he was from the domestic security division.
I refused to answer any of their questions. In the end, Wang Yubiao appeared to be rather angry and said, “If this were a couple years ago, I would have given you a good lesson. Tomorrow we will find a good place for you.” Then they left.
The next afternoon, Zhang Rui took me to Shuangcheng Detention Center.
The guards at the detention center pocketed the money that my family deposited for me.
Wu Jiafeng, director, ordered prisoners to force me to clean the floors and the restrooms. Zhang Laowu, a prisoner from Wujia Town, claimed that I did not respond loudly enough when they called my name, so he slapped my face with a slipper and kicked my chest. Prisoner Zuo Dan from Shuangcheng Town ordered prisoner Xiao Cao to slap my face 30 times.
Officers Zhang Rui, Zhang Shaogang, Wang Yubiao, Zhang Zhenting (from the Shuangcheng Procuratorate), and four officers from Harbin City came to the detention center to interrogate me.
Around mid-August, a guard told me that I would be tried that day. When I got to the court, there were four or five judges, including Zhang Zhenting. There were a total of 12 people in the court room.
I asked them why my family was not notified, and no one answered. Later a guard at the detention center said, “They were too afraid to tell your family. They are afraid that your family would make trouble for the court.” During the trial, someone named Hu Yelin slandered Falun Gong.
The court announced the verdict, which was a three-year prison term in September. I was transferred to Hulan Prison on September 10. In the intensive training ward, they demanded that I write statements renouncing Falun Gong. Later on, I was transferred to the No. 9 Ward and forced to perform hard labor.
The persecution has harmed me and my family. The police said they were going to arrest my wife, so she had to leave our home for long periods of time. My daughter was called to the police station at any time of the day or night. My oldest son was worried about me and quit his job in Beijing. My youngest son was in his final year of college, but was too worried about me to look for a job. The police also confiscated a lot of my personal belongings, with a value of more than 50,000 yuan.
