(Clearwisdom.net) On December 7, 2003, police from Lanzhou City National Security Bureau of Gansu Province frantically searched for and arrested Falun Gong practitioners in the Xigu District. On that date approximately 20 practitioners attended a Fa Conference. All of the practitioners were arrested and subsequently brutally tortured.

Practitioner Zhao Xudong was among those who were arrested at the conference. Sometime during February 2004, Zhao Xudong was beaten to death. Clearwisdom reported the story of his torture and death. The Clearwisdom report told of continuous and incessant mental and physical torture that, in only two months, turned the previously strong and handsome 30-year-old Zhao Xudong into a white-haired, bone-thin figure. He died emitting blood out of all orifices. It has been clearly determined that the murderers of practitioner Zhao Xudong were Division Chief Pei Huaiwei, Wang Jun at the No. 6 Division in the Lanzhou City National Security Bureau, and three guards at the No. 2 Detention Center in Lanzhou City (the names of the three guards and their specific participation in the persecution are still being pursued).

Additional information about Zhao Xudong's family indicates that Zhao Xudong's mother, practitioner Bai Jinyu, was also arrested while at the conference. Police also brutally tortured her, causing fractures in three ribs and in her thighbones, rendering her disabled. The police, without justification to do so, attempted to conduct a secret trial against practitioners that included Bai Jinyu. Several people had to carry her in because she could not walk or stand. Bai Jinyu and the other practitioners on trial maintained strong righteous thoughts throughout the trial, resulting in the trial being interrupted in the middle. She and the other practitioners are still imprisoned at the Gansu Province National Security Department Detention Center.

Practitioner Li Hongping, Zhao Xudong's wife, was imprisoned for four years. Her case was also reported by Clearwisdom. She was just recently released, but the persecutors constantly harass and monitor her.

Zhao Xudong's daughter is a young practitioner (approximately 10 years old) who, after suffering the tragic loss of her father and with the knowledge that her grandmother is disabled and imprisoned, has been robbed of a warm family environment. The daughter has regained her mother's care, but they are forced to live under constant monitoring and harassment.

Note: Lanzhou City No.2 Detention Center Head is Xu Yulin