(Minghui.org) Having served three labor camp terms, a 61-year-old Jiaohe City, Jilin Province resident is facing another prison sentence for his faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Wu Dexiu was arrested at his rental place on May 13, 2022. The police turned the place upside down during the raid. When his older sister contacted the police about his case three days later, the police told her that he was arrested for practicing Falun Gong. They said that he is now being held in a COVID-19 quarantine facility, and would be sentenced soon after that.
Mr. Wu’s sister returned to the Minzhu Police Station twice in late May seeking more information about his case, but to no avail. She contacted several law firms, but no lawyer was willing to take on his case. She received a call from someone in the nearby Shulan City on June 10 and was asked to make a 500 yuan deposit for Mr. Wu. It is not clear where she was asked to make the deposit.
Mr. Wu’s sister later learned that he had already been arrested earlier in May, after his landlord opened his door for the police. After he tested negative for COVID-19, he was brought back home and put on residential surveillance. Several police officers took turns monitoring him around the clock, before arresting him again on May 13.
Mr. Wu began to practice Falun Gong in June 1996. After the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999, he was repeatedly arrested and detained for upholding his faith. He has served three labor camp terms prior to his latest arrest.
Mr. Wu was first arrested at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on February 19, 2000, when he went there to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was taken back to Jiaohe and given a one year term at the Jilin City Forced Labor Camp. His term was extended for three months, as he refused to renounce Falun Gong.
For urging the deputy township director Jiang Xicai not to participate in the persecution on February 9, 2002, Mr. Wu was arrested again and given two years at the Jiutai Forced Labor Camp.
His next arrest was on July 20, 2011, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. This time, he was given one year at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp.
During his labor camp terms, Mr. Wu was once shocked by ten electric batons, on his face and all over his body. His skin was severely burned and blistered. The guards also beat him with rubber clubs and PVC pipes. He was subjected to other tortures, including being tied up, held in metal cages, as well as force-feeding. The guards once stripped his clothes and forced him to stand in the freezing wind, which eventually caused two of his toes to freeze and later fall off. He was in critical condition several times as a result of the torture.
Mr. Wu was arrested one more time on August 29, 2015, for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution in 1999. He was detained for ten days.
While working at the home of another practitioner. Ms. He Wenhui, as her aide, both Mr. Wu and Ms. He were arrested on July 16, 2021. The police revealed that they arrested him in order to prevent him from holding any activities to expose the persecution on July 20, the 22-year anniversary of the persecution. With the charge of “illegal gathering,” Mr. Wu was detained for 15 days.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Chen Yantao (陈彦涛), head of Minzhu Police Station: +86-13944267722Zhou Yacheng (周亚成), police officer: +86-13664446666Tian Haoran (田浩然), residential committee director: +86-13944667795
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)