(Clearwisdom.net) On December, 22, 2007, Ms. Zhou Yumei, 60, a resident of Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province was arrested by agents from the National Security Division. She was detained at the Zhuozhou City Detention Center. Sources indicate that she was tried and sentenced by agents of the Second Criminal Court, Zhuozhou City on June 13, 2008, while at the detention center. Her family and her attorney have not yet been allowed to visit Ms. Zhou, and the family was prevented from appealing to a higher court.
Ms. Zhou Yumei, 60, from Lintun Village, Lintun Township in Zhuozhou City, previously suffered from ascites due to cirrhosis of the liver, as well as incontinence, headaches, and back and leg pain. She walked with the help a crutch. However, after Ms. Zhou Yumei began practicing Falun Gong, all of her diseases disappeared.
On November, 12, 1999, Ms. Zhou Yumei went to Beijing to appeal to the government on behalf of Falun Gong. She was arrested by police officers from the Qianmen Station, Beijing. On the same day, she was taken to the Zhuozhou City Police Department. There, Xie Yubao (male), chief of the Political and Security Department, along with more than twenty others, including Wang Aiguo (male), Li Baoping (male), Feng Shuquan (male), deputy Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary of Lintun Township, and Zheng Jiamin, director of the Judiciary Division, were brutally beating Falun Gong practitioners. Xie Yubao forced Ms. Zhou to kneel on the ground while holding a metal spade over her head with both hands. As soon as her arms became tired and she allowed the spade to drop down, she was beaten. Li Zhenyu and Zheng Jianmin grabbed Ms. Zhou's hair and hit her in the face. She fell to the ground and they beat her every time she tried to get up. She was detained for another 15 days and was not released until they managed to extort 1,000 yuan from her. During her detention, Xu Guangchang (male), the Party Secretary of the village, went to Ms. Zhou's home, took her residence certificate and invalidated it. Even after she was released, Li Zhenyu and Zheng Jianmin frequently came to her home to harass her.
In February 2000, Ms. Zhou Yumei was arrested again and held at a senior citizen's center for ten days. In April, 2001, Zheng Jianmin and Feng Shuquan arrived to take Ms. Zhou Yumei to the Nanma Brainwashing Center. There, they tried to force her to sign a so-called guarantee statement every day. For every meal, she received only one small steamed bun. She was later transferred to the Zhuozhou City Detention Center where she received a bowl of flour soup in the mornings and two small pieces of moldy, steamed corn bread for lunch. Her dinner was a steamed bun weighing less than 0.1 lb. After having been held for nine months, Ms. Zhou was sentenced to three years of forced labor. She was forced to serve this term at the Balizhuang Forced Labor Camp in Baoding City.
Ms. Zhou Yumei was arrested again in her home on December 22, 2007. This time, Yang Yugang (male), deputy director of the Zhuozhou City National Security Division of Hebei Province, and three to four other police officers, together with Liu Jiang (male), and Liu Changshui (male), two officials from Lintun Village, Lintun Township, suddenly broke into her home and ransacked it for no apparent reason. They took two money vouchers and transported Ms. Zhou Yumei to a detention center. When her family went to the the detention center and talked to agents from the National Security Division to ask for a visit, their application was denied and they were not even allowed to send clothes for her.
On June 18, 2008, Ms. Zhou Yumei's daughter went to the court with an attorney, but officials at the Second Criminal Court of Zhuozhou City had already announced a verdict on June 13, 2008. According to the CCP's law, you may appeal to a higher court if you disagree with a verdict within ten days of the date the sentencing statement was issued. However, the family had not been notified of the initial sentencing hearing and it was not clear when they could file an appeal. To find out what could be done, the family and the attorney went to the detention center. They arrived at the detention center at 11:00 a.m., but the security staff member at the door told them that there was no one in the office and to come back in the afternoon. At 2:30 p.m., they returned, and they were able to talk to a young guard named Lu. The attorney showed the proper documents and asked to see Ms. Zhou. They were told that there was no one present who was responsible for the case. The attorney said, "You cannot deprive us of our rights to appeal to a higher court." The guard answered that Ms. Zhou did not want to appeal. As a result, the attorney was not allowed to talk to Ms. Zhou or to visit her.
When Ms. Zhou's family sent new summer clothes to the detention center, the guards would not allow her to have them. Her daughter said, "She was arrested in the winter and now it is summer, and she does not even have a change of clothes. Why would you not allow that? What crime did she commit? You should not treat her this way. You are simply depriving an older lady of her most basic rights." After a considerable wait and only with the intervention of the attorney did
the guard finally allow for the clothes to be brought inside. However, they still did not allow the attorney to visit Ms. Zhou. It has been reported that Ms. Zhou's health has deteriorated.
People directly involved in the case:
Ye Jun (male), director of Zhuozhou City National Security Division: 86-13333126638 (cell), 86-13703361286 (cell)
Yang Yugang (male), deputy director of National Security Division: 86-13333126768 (cell)
Liu Jingsheng (male), director of the Lintun Police Station: 86-13333126919 (cell)
Zhuozhu City Detention Center:
Tao (given name and gender unknown), director: 86-312-3909898 (office)
Zhang (given name and gender unknown), instructor: 86-312-3909451 (office), 86-13333128399 (cell)
Second Criminal Court, Zhuozhu City Court: 86-312-6673571, 86-312-3853876
He Zhenjiang (male), judge