Jiangxi Man Shocked with Electric Batons During a Four-year Prison Term for Practicing Falun Gong

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Nov. 21, 2023 | By a Minghui correspondent in Jiangxi Province, China

(Minghui.org) A man in Wanzai County, Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, was forced to work without pay and shocked with electric batons while serving a four-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong. Mr. Yang Dexin struggles to recover from the various ailments developed in the prison after being released on July 29, 2023 and also faces dire financial constraint as he hasn’t been able to find a full-time job yet.

Mr. Yang, 55, was arrested on July 29, 2019 by officers from Nanchang County Domestic Security Office after being monitored for a long time. The police held him at the Guashan Detention Center for 15 months without informing his family. His 87-year-old mother worried sick about his situation.

The local court held a virtual hearing of his case during the pandemic and sentenced him to four years with a 50,000-yuan fine. His appeal was rejected by the intermediate court.

Mr. Yang was taken to the Nanchang Prison in October 2020, where most male Falun Gong practitioners sentenced to prison in Jiangxi Province are incarcerated. He was first assigned to the 12th Division, where he was forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong. The guards threatened to deprive him of sleep, restrict his restroom usage, or hold him with people having mental problems if he did not write a guarantee statement to renounce his faith. The brainwashing session lasted for more than one month. He was also prohibited from talking to others during the time.

In March 2022, Mr. Yang was taken to the fifth floor in the building when he failed to finish the tasks assigned to him. He was forced to stand for more than two hours while wearing a black blindfold.

On March 25, 2022, Mr. Yang was dragged to a corner of the workshop and slapped in the face three times by guard Xiao Guowei when he could not finish the work on the high-intensity clothing production line. After an hour, Xiao asked Mr. Yang again in the office if he could finish his work. When Mr. Yang said he couldn’t, Xiao kicked him several times on his thighs and legs and shocked his face and chest with electric batons. Mr. Yang’s mustache was burned and his face became red and swollen. His chest was also in pain. The torture lasted for more than 20 minutes and Xiao threatened, “I will continue the torture in the evening and I will torture you to death!”

Torture re-enactment: Shocked with electric batons

Mr. Yang was released on July 29, 2023. After four years of torture and hard labor, he has developed high blood pressure, heart and stomach conditions, and generalized pain. The local authorities continued to harass him and he struggles to fend for himself while enduring the pain.

Past Persecution

Mr. Yang began practicing Falun Gong, an ancient mind-body discipline, in 1996. He credits the practice for helping him quit many bad habits, including drinking and smoking. He also stopped cursing people and strives to be a good person by following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

After the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Mr. Yang was given three years of forced labor in 2000 and sentenced to seven years in prison in 2005 for upholding his faith. He was again sentenced to one and a half years in 2016.

He was beaten, tortured, and forced to do unpaid labor for long hours when serving time at Yuzhang Prison. He was also subjected to intensive brainwashing designed to force him to renounce his faith.

Torture illustration: Manual work in prison