(Minghui.org) Mr. Zhao Baozhuang was detained multiple times before being given a long-term prison sentence in 2007, simply for his belief in Falun Gong. He is currently detained in Xinmi Prison, in Zhengzhou City. His family has lost their primary source of income and are struggling to get by. Their two children are still in high school, and rely on Mr. Zhao's wife, who is a temporary worker outside their hometown.
Mr. Zhao, who is approximately 45 years of age, resides in Xuchang City, Henan Province. He left Xuchang when he was 16 years old, and has worked selling scales since then in Mianchi County. Because he practices Falun Gong, he has been arrested many times by agents from the Mianchi County 610 Office and the local Domestic Security Division.
Mr. Zhao was secretly arrested by agents from the Yima City Domestic Security Division in August 2007, when he was in Guanyintang Town, Shan County, in Henan Province. After being tortured in an attempt to force a so-called confession, he was taken to the Yima City Detention Center. Before his trial, officers from the Yima City 610 Office conspired with agents from the local court, planning to sentence him to six years in prison. Without notifying his family, Mr. Zhao was secretly tried by the Yima City Court in early 2009.
During the court hearing, Mr. Zhao explained the facts about the unjust persecution of Falun Gong. Agents from the 610 Office were infuriated, and later changed his sentence from 6 years, to 12 years. Mr. Zhao filed an appeal with the Sanmenxia City Middle Court, in Henan Province, however the officers there ignored the facts and upheld the original sentence.
Arrested Many Times in the Past
Because Mr. Zhao distributed truth-clarification materials, he was arrested by agents from Mianchi County in January 2001. The chief of the 610 Office at the time was Li Yuwei, who is currently a special agent of the State Security Division in Sanmenxia City. These agents confiscated his TV, VCD player, and other items, which were never returned. Li Yuwei planned to sentence Mr. Zhao to prison and detained Mr. Zhao at the Mianchi County Detention Center for thirteen months. After Li's plan failed, he extorted 2,000 yuan from Mr. Zhao's family.
Mr. Zhao was arrested by agents from the neighboring Yima City and Mianchi County 610 Office in July 2003, at his store. Officers from the Mianchi County 610 Office, in collusion with the Mianchi County Bureau of Industry and Commerce, then confiscated Mr. Zhao's property at another store. They also colluded with the County Education and Physical Bureau to threaten all the middle schools not to enroll his two children, lest the principal be fired. Desperately, his two children went back to their hometown, Changge City. Li Yuwei did not stop there. He also tried to drive Mr. Zhao's wife away. Threatened by Li, his wife had to transfer their business to other people and was forced to return to their hometown. After Mr. Zhao was held for a month at the Mianchi County Detention Center, he was taken to the Xuchang Forced Labor Camp to serve a two-year term, and was inhumanely tortured.
After Mr. Zhao was released from the labor camp in February 2005, he had no stable income. There was hardship for the entire family. In order to make a living, Mr. Zhao went to Guanyintang Town to do business selling scales again. Because he had been working in the business for many years, it was rather easy and familiar to him. However, because it was a new place and had no contacts, he had to work hard for two years to build up his business. His business had finally begun to pick up when he was arrested again by agents of the Yima City 610 Office on the morning of August 21, 2007.
Mr. Zhao was taken to the Xinmi Prison in early 2010, where he has been tortured, and suffers to this day.
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