(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: Due to censorship in China, Minghui.org was not able to collect information about Mr. Lei Zhangchang’s persecution experience until now.

Mr. Lei Zhongchang was born in 1957 and became a farmer in Huaiyang City, Henan Province. He started to practice Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) in the spring of 1997. His illnesses disappeared, and he began to follow the Falun Gong principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” His improved character gained renown in his local area.

After the Chinese Communist Party began its persecution of Falun Gong, Mr. Lei was arrested four times, held in a detention center three times, taken to a forced labor camp twice, and incarcerated for over four years. He has wounds all over his body. His family was also affected.

Arrested for Appealing for Justice in Beijing

After the persecution started in July 1999, Mr. Lei was determined to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in Beijing. He went to Beijing in December 2000 and was arrested at Tiananmen Square.

Ren Wei from the Huaiyang Police Department and Li Changfeng from the political and security section illegally searched him and confiscated 700 yuan in cash. They interrogated Mr. Lei for several days in a row. They forced him to kneel on the ground, slapped his face, kicked him, and used their leather shoes to slap his face.

Officers confined Mr. Lei at the Huaiyang Detention Center and tortured him. The deputy chief of the detention center, Cheng Sigui, ordered two inmates to put heavy weights on both of his shoulders and forced him to stand straight without moving until that evening.

The county 610 Office transferred Mr. Lei to a brainwashing center, where he was forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong. Officials forced his family to beg him to give up his belief and demand that he write a “guarantee statement.” After a month of torture, officials extorted 2,000 yuan from Mr. Lei and an additional 1,000 yuan for “living expenses” in the center. They then released Mr. Lei.

Shackling Torture

Li Jianhua and a few other policemen from the Xinzhan Township Police Substation broke into Mr. Lei’s home at night in July 2001, put him into a police car, and took him to the Huaiyang Detention Center.

Prison guard Wang Peidong was known for torturing practitioners and mainly used the method. “walking in heavy shackles.” One afternoon, Wang called out Mr. Lei and a dozen female practitioners. He demanded that they say whether they would continue to practice Falun Gong. If the answer was yes, the practitioner would be put in shackles weighing close to 20 pounds and made to run in the yard. Whoever ran slower would be pulled along. If a practitioner refused to run, guards would push the practitioner to the ground and then drag him, causing his back to bleed.

When it was Mr. Lei’s turn, he refused to renounce Falun Gong. Wang Peidong and a few inmates attempted to put the heavy shackles on him. Mr. Lei resisted. They pushed him to the ground and forced him to run with the shackles for an hour until his ankle bones were exposed. Two inmates pulled him forward, pushed him down facing the ground, and pulled him forward again. Mr. Lei’s back bled nonstop.

Torturing Illustration: Shackling

Wang Peidong then asked Mr. Lei again, “Are you still going to practice Falun Gong?” When the answer was yes, Wang instigated a few inmates to carry Mr. Lei above their heads and throw him onto the floor. They tortured him like this for over an hour. Mr. Lei left a trail of blood to his cell.

Mr. Lei was forced to do unpaid labor each day, mainly making fireworks. If one did not finish their quota on a given day, he would not be allowed to sleep. The inmates were forced to work day and night. For a period of time, Mr. Lei could not finish his daily assignments. He had to work a few days and nights without any sleep. As soon as Mr. Lei closed his eyes, the inmates responsible for monitoring him would use big needles to poke his head, leg bones, fingernails, and toenails. He lost a few nails as a result. Sometimes, they used stools to beat his hip and waist, leaving him covered in bruises.

Mr. Lei became emaciated during his nine-month detention. However, his suffering would not end there, as he was taken to the Xuchang Forced Labor Camp in April 2002 for two years.

Force-Feeding

A year after Mr. Lei was released, in 2005, Li Jianhua and Xu Wei from Xinzhan Township Police Substation broke into his home and illegally searched it without showing a warrant. They confiscated his personal belongings and took him to a detention center.

At the gate of the detention center, Mr. Lei shouted, “Falun Dafa is good!” Policeman Wang Xinqi immediately put a straitjacket on him (straitjackets are routinely used as torture instruments in Chinese detention facilities).

Mr. Lei went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. After 27 days, Zheng Xianjun, the chief of the detention center, ordered a few inmates to force-feed Mr. Lei. They used four steel strings to tie his hands and legs. They then held his head and used steel sticks to open his mouth. His teeth loosened and bled as a result. The force-feeding lasted for a month. Zheng also put a lot of salt in the food. After force-feeding, Mr. Lei ran a high fever.

One time, Mr. Lei refused force-feeding and shouted, “Falun Dafa is good! You are committing a crime, torturing good people!” Zheng Xianjun slapped Mr. Lei's face a few times.

On June 10, 2005, Mr. Lei was taken to Henan Third Forced Labor Camp for two years.

Arrested and Tortured Prior to the 2008 Olympics

Mr. Lei was arrested again in July 2008, just before the Olympic Games in Beijing. Cheng Weifeng from the Domestic Security Division interrogated and tortured him. He tightly handcuffed Mr. Lei's arms behind his back and then covered his head. Then he ordered three people to step on Mr. Lei. The handcuffs cut into his wrists.

Cheng also bound Mr. Lei to an “ iron chair,” after which they poked his thighs with steel needles and burned his thighs with cigarettes.

Torture Illustration: Iron Chair

While Mr. Lei was detained, staff from the 610 Office extorted 4,700 yuan from his family, which devastated their finances. His two children had to quit school. Mr. Lei’s family also endured discrimination as a result of the communist regime’s propaganda slandering Falun Gong.