Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

Shandong Province First Prison Deprived Mr. Zhao Weidong of Sleep for 26 Days

May 30, 2006

(Clearwisdom.net)

Falun Dafa practitioner, Mr. Zhao Weidong from Tai'an City in Shandong Province was illegally arrested and detained by the 8th Team of 11th District in the Shandong Province First Prison. He was persecuted and deprived of sleep for 26 consecutive days. He has been in a trance and is still suffering from the torture.

The authorities attempted to "transform" him by means of a "sudden attack." At first, a group of instructors sat in circle on stools and insulted Dafa. No sleep or little sleep was allowed. Over time, when Mr. Zhao persisted in cultivation, they completely deprived him of sleep. He was forced to squat down, and a few new prisoners watched him. Whenever Mr. Zhao closed his eyes, they poked him, kicked him, and pulled his hair and ears.

From late October to early December 2005, for more than 600 hours over 26 days, Mr. Zhao was not allowed to sleep at all. Five or six new prisoners took shifts to watch him around the clock. They beat him whenever he closed his eyes. He had to keep his eyes open. When he could no longer maintain the squatting position and sat on the ground, they beat him, pulled him up, and forced him to squat. He was beaten and kicked countless times every day.

After the intense sleep deprivation and merciless beating over such a long time, Mr. Zhao became absent-minded. When the prisoners helped him to go to the bathroom, he would often lose his way. He was unable to straighten his back. His forehead was covered with lumps. Some came from falling on the floor. Some came from other prisoner's beating him with fists and knocking him with their finger joints. He fell to the ground (both forward and backward) dozens and even hundreds of times every day, especially in the evenings.

Once a prisoner counted with his watch and said, "Zhao fell seven times in one minute." He said, "Zhao's head hit the ground so hard that he almost broke the floor." However, Mr. Zhao was unconscious and had no idea what was happening. When he became conscious in the daytime, he kept repeating, "My head hurts so much."

One day, four or five prisoners beat Mr. Zhao mercilessly. They kicked both sides of his chest and hit his ribs hard with their knees. They covered his mouth with their hands and didn't let go until Mr. Zhao shook his head and mustered all of his strength to shout out, "I am suffocating. I can't breathe!"

Because Mr. Zhao couldn't sleep for such a long time, he was mentally disordered and acted strangely most of the time. He often acted as if he was washing his hands on the floor. People asked him what he was doing when he was conscious. He said he saw a layer of water on the floor, so he was washing his hands. He got worse in the evenings.

Even so, they tortured him even more. The instructor constantly gathered prisoners and thugs to discuss how to torture him. Once Mr. Zhao was beaten so hard that he lay on the floor and couldn't move. The instructor felt the situation was serious and told the thugs, "If anything happens to him [meaning if he was beaten to death], just say that he committed suicide." The instructors often said, "If you don't "transform," you are a dead man."

After that, Mr. Zhao lay on the bed and could hardly turn. His whole body ached and he couldn't turn sideways for a few months. His ribs hurt so much that he could hardly bear the pain. For over two months after his ear was injured in a beating, it hurt like it was packed solid. He was not allowed to go to the restroom. He was forced to restrain himself for ten and more hours and ended up soiling himself a few times.

These persecution facts are only the tip of the iceberg. It's only one case among countless brutal persecution cases in the 8th Team in 11th District in Shandong Province First Prison.

We hope the "Coalition to Investigate the Persecution" will come to the prisons in Shandong Province in China to investigate the persecution of practitioners.

Shangdong Province First Prison

Political Department: 86-531-87072610 86-531-87072680
Chen Ran, Warden, 8th Team in the 11th District: 86-531-87072680
Guo Jian, Warden, 8th Team in the 11th District: 86-531-87072680
Zhan Huacheng, section chief: 86-531-87072760 86-13705406300 (Cell)