(Clearwisdom.net) The following provides accounts of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Tanbu Town, Mengyin County in Shandong Province.
Officials savagely beat Kan Hongxia when she said, "I will practice Falun Gong"
Practitioner Ms. Kan Hongxia, 43 years old, lived in Xixiya Village, Tanbu Town, Mengyin County in Shandong Province. She benefited both physically and mentally after she started practicing Falun Gong in 1999. She was fined and severely tortured after the persecution began on July 20, 1999.
A group of officials led by Tanbu Town Party Committee Secretary Liu Zhimin ransacked practitioners' homes and extorted between 100 and 200 yuan from each practitioner. They also forced the practitioners to submit to fingerprinting and pressured them to renounce their belief in Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. Zhang Wenlong and some other officials from a school broke into Kan Hongxia's home one day and extorted 100 yuan from her.
Kan Hongxia went to Beijing to appeal on December 21, 2000. Police at the Zibo City Train Station intercepted and held her for 24 hours. The police took her train ticket and all of her cash, which was over 300 yuan. In the evening, officers Li Qiang, Yi Yongtao, Bu Fanwei, Miao Shuzheng and Wu Gang from the Tanbu Police Station took Kan Hongxia back to Mengyin County and threatened and beat her at the No. 2 Police Division in Mengyin County. The officials locked Kan Hongxia in the Mengyin Detention Center on December 22, 2000 and sent her non-practitioner husband to the Tanbu Town Government. He was sick at the time and had not eaten for a few days. The officials beat and kicked him, despite his condition. They claimed, "Our stick is our law; if we beat you to death, we'll toss you in the snow and walk away!" At 8:00 a.m. on December 23, 2000, they also demanded that Kan Hongxia's husband pay them 10,000 yuan.
Kan Hongxia was transferred to the town government after 25 days at the detention center. Party Secretary Li Peixin, Deputy Party Secretary Gong Fangzhen and town head Yuan Junhai ordered Pan Yushan, Zhang Qian, Zhang Jiazhao, Zhao Jian, Gong Yanpeng, Gong Weidong, Yu Huazeng, Gong Piwu, Sun Jifang, Gong Xuefeng, Wang Youfu and several others to stand around Kan Hongxia and physically assault her. They hit her with a mop handle while they asked her whether she would continue to practice Falun Gong. When she answered, "Yes", another round of beating ensued. This went on until the mop handle broke. They were exhausted and told Ai to pour a bucket of cold water down Kan Hongxia's neck. They returned the following evening and attempted to coerce her to curse Master and Dafa. She refused, and they savagely beat her again.
The Tanbu town government officials conducted brainwashing sessions for more than nine months. Kan Hongxia refused to attend. The officials beat her and extorted 50 yuan from her. In all, the officials extorted a total of 13,460 yuan in cash from her, including 10,000 yuan after she went to Beijing, an 800-yuan "guarantee fee," 500 yuan of "brainwashing fee," 10 yuan for taking her pictures, and various other illegally imposed charges.
Police officer kicks Mr. An Lianyu in the face
Mr. An Lianyu, 41 years old, lived in Shiwan Village, Tanbu Town, Mengyin County, Shandong Province.
Mr. An Lianyu signed a joint petition in early March 2000 to appeal for justice for Dafa. Party officials ordered Mr. He and more than 100 other practitioners to go to the courtyard at the Tanbu Town government compound. Head of Tanbu Town Yuan Junhai, Deputy Head of Tanbu Town Meng Qinglong, head of the Organization Committee Pan Yushan and Deputy Party Secretary Gong Fangzhen instructed government employees to beat Falun Gong practitioners. They hired street thugs to help attack the practitioners. Six people assaulted each practitioner. They hit the practitioners with wooden sticks and whipped them with belts. They banged the practitioners' heads against the wall. Mr. An Lianyu was fined 2,000 yuan.
An Lianyu went to Beijing to appeal and was illegally arrested on January 15, 2001. Participating in the arrest was Bu Fanwei and other officers from the Tanbu Town Police Station. Mr. An was taken to the police station, where he was interrogated and then transferred to the town government. Official Pan Yushan and thugs Zhao Jian, Zhao Jiazhao and Tian Yongzhong struck An Lianyu's face with books, and beat and kicked him. In the winter they forced An Lianyu to sit in the courtyard and stay in a posture where his legs are outstretched and his fingers touch his toes.
Police Chief Yi Yongtao, officer Wu Gang and five others broke into An Lianyu's home on January 31, 2001 and took him to the police station. Wang Jiquan, Head of the Tanbu Town Police Station, slapped An Lianyu's face several times. Deputy Head Li Qiang forced An Lianyu to sit on the concrete floor and proceeded to kick him in the face. He grabbed An Lianyu's hair and twirled him around. Li Qiang said, "Falun Gong practitioners are [treated] worse than thieves." Officer Yi Yongtao whipped An Lianyu with a rope and handcuffed his wrists tightly. Officer Yi Yongtao tried to intimidate An Lianyu by saying, "If you don't give us information, we'll strip you naked, hang you up and blow the fan in your face." Officers from the Mengyin County Police Department grabbed An Lianyu's hair and whipped him around, saying, "If you don't tell us, we'll burn your eyes out."
The police kept An Lianyu handcuffed for three days, during which time he was forbidden to sleep, but he firmly refused to reveal any information to the police. The police detained him for 15 days.
An Lianyu went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Dafa and was fined 10,000 yuan plus a 800-yuan "guarantee fee," along with a brainwashing and other fees, totaling 13,400 yuan.
The police struck Sun Dimei until she lost consciousness and then poured cold water on her
Ms. Sun Dimei, 61 years old, lived in Shuimingya Village, Tanbu Town, Mengyin County. She was arrested on November 3, 1999. Participating in the arrest were local police. It happened when she was doing the Falun Gong exercises at Menyin Park in Mengyin County. That evening the police interrogated Sun Dimei and beat her four times, each beating lasting until she lost consciousness.
She was taken to the Mengyin County Detention Center on November 4, 2000 and held there for two weeks, during which time she was forbidden to see her family. She was extorted of 1,000 yuan.
She went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Dafa on December 20, 2000 and was arrested at Tiananmen Square and taken to a large, dark room where many other practitioners were held. A group of police officers struck the practitioners with rubber clubs until the practitioners were covered in blood. The practitioners were later taken to a custody center in Beijing. The police took all of the practitioners' money and personal belongings, forced them to sit on the cold concrete floor with their legs stretched out and their fingers touching their toes. The police also stood on the practitioners' knees and stomped on them.
After seven days, police from Mengyin County took Sun Dimei from Beijing to Mengyin County and held her in a police district in Mengyin for one day. The following day the persecutors took her to the courtyard at the Tanbu Town government compound, where Sun Dimei was beaten repeatedly until her body was covered by injuries. Several days later the officials took Sun Dimei to the Mengyin Custody Center to be further held for more than 20 days.
In February 2001, Sun Dimei was returned to the government courtyard from the Mengyin Custody Center. Official Pan Yushan led more than 30 people, including Zhang Qian, Zhang Jiaozhao, Zhao Jian, Wang Mingjun, Yu Huazeng, and Sun Jifang, to take turns beating her. They would pour cold water on her after she had lost consciousness and made her sit in the snow. They coerced Falun Gong practitioners to curse Master and Dafa and if they refused, they would beat the practitioners severely.
The practitioners were fined 50 yuan if they were late in attending the brainwashing sessions. The government officials also forced the practitioners' families to attend the sessions with them. They physically assaulted Sun Dimei's family and extorted money from them. They imposed the same "tardy policy" on the families.
Sun Dimei was beaten, detained and fined 15,800 yuan over the past eight years.
The officials hung Ms. Bao Xiuxia up for one day and two nights
Ms. Bao Xiuxia, 40 years old, lived in Xitanbu Village, Tanbu Town, Mengyin County.
More than 30 practitioners including Bao Xiuxia, Li Yuying, Zhu Ruiju, Wang Junshan, Shi Zengyou, Gou Shouxin, Sun Dimei and Sui Xueai were doing the Falun Gong exercises at Yinwen Park in Mengyin County on November 8, 2000 when a group of police arrested them. They slapped the practitioners' faces, beat and kicked them and took all of the practitioners' money. They held the practitioners for 15 days and extorted 1,200 yuan from every practitioner.
More than 100 practitioners including Bao Xiuxia, Sui Xueai, Li Yuying, Feng Ruimin, Zhu Ruiju, Gong Maoqin, Gong Aifeng, Feng Aihong, Shan Fugui, Feng Chuanjin, and An Lianyu from Tanbu Town signed a show their determination in upholding Dafa. They were tricked into showing up at the government courtyard. Yuan Junhai, head of Tanbu Town, Meng Qinglong, deputy town head, Gong Fangzhen, deputy Party secretary, and Pan Yushan, head of the Organization Committee, directed a group of government employees, including hired thugs, to beat the practitioners.
A group of police officers headed by Wang Jiquan and Wu Gang broke into the homes of 19 practitioners, including those of Bao Xiuxia, Zhu Ruiju, Sui Xueai and Zhang Zaixiang, around May 20, 2001. They ransacked the homes and arrested the practitioners. Bao Xiuxia was taken to the Tanbu Town Police Station, where the police hung her from a basketball goal for one day and two nights, and then they sent her to the government courtyard for further abuse.
Official Pan Yushan ordered Sun Jifang, Zhang Qian, Zhao Jian, Gong Yanpeng, and Wang Yanfeng to stand around Bao Xiuxia and whip her with bamboo canes and wooden sticks until the sticks broke. They beat and kicked her while coercing her to curse Master and Dafa. They extorted 5,000 yuan in addition to a 600 yuan "brainwashing fee" and some other charges that totaled 7,400 yuan.
List of those responsible for these acts of violence:
Liu Zhimin: Party secretary
Gong Fangzhen: deputy Party secretary
Shen Yueyou: No. 3 deputy Party secretary
yuan Junhai: town head
Li Peixin: deputy town head
Meng Qinglong: deputy town head
Pan Yushan: head of the Organization Committee in Tanbu Town; a vicious man who was involved in every beating.
Other thugs included Zhang Qian, Sun Jifang, Zhao Jian, Zhang Jiazhao, Tian Yongzhong, Wang Yanfeng
Accomplices: Zhang Minglei, Gong Yanpeng, Gong Weidong, Yu Huazeng, Gong Piwu, Gong Xuefeng, Wang Youfu, Kan Shicang, Shen Yueyou, Kan Jizhong, Wang Mingjun, Wang Jianqing, Zhang Huadong, Sun Chao, Zhao Dong, Liu Zhen
Police: Wang Jiquan, police chief; Li Qiang, deputy chief; Yi Yongtao, political head; Bu Fanwei, Miao Shuzheng, Wu Gang
