(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhao Chuanwen, 48, a fabric store owner, was tried by the Lanshan District Court in Linyi City on August 12, 2016, for handing out Falun Gong informational materials. He was later sentenced to a two-year prison term.
His wife, Ms. Liu Fenghou, was arrested when she was trying to rescue him. The local Procuratorate issued a permit that allowed authorities to hold her beyond the legally permissible detention term of six months. She is now facing prosecution.
Mr. Zhao and Ms. Liu live in Mengyin County, Linyi City and started practicing Falun Gong in 1996.
Since the onset of the persecution in 1999, the couple has been illegally arrested multiple times, and detained in brainwashing centers. Their valuables, worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, were confiscated, and their home was destroyed.
Mr. Zhao was sentenced to a 13-year prison term in 2000 and released in October 2012. Ms. Liu was given three years of forced labor and released in 2005.
Summary of Criminal Complaint
Mr. Zhao wrote in the criminal complaint: I went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in July 1999, and was arrested and taken to the Zhiquanqiao Brainwashing Center.
The staff at the brainwashing center made me stand in the hot sun all day. The local police station chief had me sit on the floor throughout the night.
When visiting a practitioner in October 1999, I was arrested and taken to the Duozhuang Town Police Station. The police officers slapped my face and shocked me with electric batons. They demanded that I tell them my itinerary when away from my hometown. Two days later, I was taken to a detention center. Police officers continually hit me with a broom during several days of interrogation. I was released after one month.
My wife and I went to Beijing again in February 2000 to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. We were arrested and returned to our hometown. I was held in the Mengyin Detention Center for 35 days. I was then taken to the Quanqiao Brainwashing Center. In the brainwashing center, I was handcuffed to a tree. Personnel there kicked me and beat me with a rubber club.
I was transferred to the West Duozhuang Town Brainwashing Center in April 2000. Chen Yuxin slapped my face until my nose bled. After I was handcuffed, Fang Simin from the local military department, along with others, hit me with rubber clubs until my skin turned black.
Thirteen Years of Torture
I was sentenced to 13 years in prison and taken to the Shandong Province Prison.
Beginning November 2003: I was held in the strictly-managed cell. Guard Li Wei ordered inmates to deprive me of sleep and force me to stand all day and night.
March to April 2004: Guards held me in the strictly-managed cell I was deprived of sleep and had to stand for long hours. Inmates were ordered to hit me.
July 2007: After I was taken to the No. 8 Ward 7, inmate Wang Yi hit me whenever he saw me sitting on the bed or trying to rest. He later told me that guard Yuan Zhenjun had promised to reduce his sentence if he beat me.
August 2007: I was taken to the No. 11 Ward. Guard Li Wei held me in the strictly-managed cell because I insisted on doing the Falun Gong exercises. I was ordered to sit on a small stool daily from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
November 2007: I was taken again to the strictly-managed cell. Several inmates hit my feet with a wooden club, which resulted in injuries.
November 2010: I was taken again to the strictly-managed cell, where I was deprived of sleep. To keep me awake, inmates poured cold water over me, held me to the ground, and hit me with rubber pipes.
Family Ordeal
My wife was given three years of forced labor. My younger brother was sentenced to a five-year prison term. Our homes were ransacked and everything we owned was confiscated.
My elderly mother, who had to take care of her grandchildren, was forced to give up practicing Falun Gong. She passed away on September 28, 2014.
