(Minghui.org) A 54-year-old man from Zhumadian City, Henan Province has been in detention since his arrest in August 2013. He was charged with “using a cult organization to sabotage law enforcement,” and the “evidence” used against him was his purchase of SIM cards (cards inside cellular phones that carry an identification number unique to the owner and store personal data) for several friends.
Mr. Kang Fuchun (康富春) firmly rejected the charge against him at his third trial on December 30, 2014. He pointed out the police violations of legal procedure in his arrest and subsequent interrogation and made it clear that his practicing Falun Gong caused no harm to anyone and broke no law. He concluded that the persecution of Falun Gong lacks legal basis from its very beginning, since there has never been any law that labels Falun Gong as a cult.
A prosecutor once admitted to Mr. Kang, “They [the police] shouldn't have sent you to the detention center in the first place. Your offense [of buying SIM cards for others] at most warrants a few days of administrative detention, but they [the police] only receive half a point for doing so. They are awarded more than five points for just sending one Falun Gong practitioner to the detention center. We don't really like the police's inflating minor offenses, but we have to work with them to get people like you prosecuted.”
It was learned that police chief Yang Junjie ordered his deputies to each accumulate a minimum amount of points in their detention of practitioners, or else they'd face consequences.
Mr. Kang testified at his trial that from his arrest to his indictment, the police had violated due process of law. He stated,
“I was taken away from work on the morning of August 9, 2013. The arresting officers from the Xuesong Police Department did not produce any subpoena or arrest warrant. They interrogated me for 40 hours straight in an administrative detention facility. They changed my status to criminal detention a few days later and transferred me to the city detention center on August 18.
“The police had the procuratorate approve my arrest on September 23, 2013. On March 5, 2014, I received an indictment dated February 27, 2014, but they rescinded the indictment on March 14. Four-and-a-half months later, they reissued the indictment, which was exactly the same one still dated February 27, 2014.
“It took the procuratorate almost five months to finally charge me without any valid evidence, and I have been detained beyond legally permissible term all these months.”
Mr. Kang was interrogated with torture for 40 hours straight following his arrest.
Sun Lin (孙琳) and Wang Jianshe (王建设) handcuffed and shackled him and began to hit his face until his teeth became loose and blood gushed from his mouth. Two other officers forced him to squat in a position that cut off the blood circulation to his lower body. Mr. Kang was not allowed to sleep during the interrogation. As a result of the torture, he suffered numbness in his legs for months, chronic amnesia and high blood pressure.
Mr. Kang also questioned the judge as to what law he broke with his purchase of SIM cards for a few friends. He wondered how such a simple act could be used to charge him with “sabotaging law enforcement.”
He asked to be acquitted, but the judge refused to release him after three trials, each without any verdict. Mr. Kang is still held at the Zhumadian City Detention Center.
Perpetrators who participated in Ms. Kang's arrest and trial:Xuesong Police Department in Zhumadian City, Henan ProvinceWang Jianshe (王建设), police officer: +86-13839611182Sun Lin (孙琳), police officer: +86-13939606877Chen Guangsheng (陈广生), police officer: +86-15978872111Yu Xuxiang (余旭祥), police officer: +86-15239610197Domestic Security Division of Xuesong Police DepartmentYu Xinzhan (余新战), police officer: +86-1303383112The Indictment Division of Yucheng District ProcuratorateWang Jianqi (王建起) and Chen Jing (陈靖)