(Minghui.org) July 20, 2022, marked 23 years since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress Falun Gong in 1999. Around this anniversary, Falun Gong practitioners in 38 countries submitted an updated list of perpetrators, including those in the law enforcement, judiciary branches, as well as the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, to their respective governments, urging that those on the list (and their family members) be barred from entry and their assets frozen.
The 38 countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Czechia, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Croatia, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Israel, Mexico, Chile, and Dominica.
Please refer to the article “New List of Perpetrators Submitted to 38 Governments on the 23rd Anniversary of the Persecution of Falun Gong” for details.
Zhang Jiatian, the Party secretary and president of the Supreme Court of Shandong Province is on the list.
Perpetrator Information
Full Name of Perpetrator: Zhang (last name) Jiatian (first name) (张甲天)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/Year of Birth: January 1961Place of Birth: Gan County, Shanxi Province
Zhang Jiatian
Title or Position
March 2003 – Sept 2008: Chief procurator and Party secretary of Haikou City Procuratorate, Hainan Province
Sept 2008 – Nov 2008: member of the CCP leadership group and head of the CCP Disciplinary Inspection Team of the Hainan Provincial High Court
Nov 2008 – Oct 2013: member of the CCP leadership group, head of the CCP Disciplinary Inspection Team, and member of the Court Review Committee of the Hainan Provincial High Court
Oct 2013 – Jan 2018: president of the Haikou Maritime Court, Party secretary at the Haikou Maritime Court
Jan 2018 – Feb 2018: Party secretary and president of the Supreme Court of Shandong Province, president of Shandong Judge Training College (concurrently)
Feb 2018 – Present: Party secretary, president, and justice of the Second Rank of the Supreme Court of Shandong Province, and president of the Shandong Training Institute of Judges (concurrently)
Major Crimes
The persecution of Falun Gong in Shandong has always been the worst in China. When Zhang held various positions in the judiciary branches, he actively participated in the persecution. Especially after he was promoted as the Party secretary and president of the Shandong Provincial High Court in January 2018, he followed the persecution even more closely. He repeatedly ordered the courts in Shandong to “crack down on cult organizations.”
According to data collected by Minghui.org, 107 Falun Gong practitioners from Shandong were sentenced to prison in 2018, the second highest number in China. In 2019, 122 were sentenced to prison, the highest in the country. In 2020, 57 were sentenced, the second highest in the country. In 2021, 1,184 Falun Gong practitioners across the country were sentenced, of which 101 (8.5%) were from Shandong, the fourth highest in the country.
Among the practitioners sentenced in 2020, the oldest was 82-year-old Ms. Ma Junting, and the youngest was 19-year-old Ms. Li Hui. Thirty of the sentenced were above 65 years old, and the longest sentence received was nine years, given to Ms. Wang Jianmin. Forty-two practitioners were fined a total of 575,000 yuan, with 21 practitioners fined over 10,000 yuan each. The highest fine was 70,000 yuan, given to Ms. Ma.
The following are select persecution cases that occurred during Zhang’s tenure in Shandong.
I. Select Death Cases
1. Mr. He Lifang Dies in Custody, Organ Harvesting Suspected
Mr. He Lifang, a resident of Qingdao City, died in custody on July 2, 2019, two months after his last arrest for refusing to renounce his faith in Falun Gong. He was only 45 years old.
Mr. He’s family noticed a sewn-up incision on his chest and an open incision on his back. They suspected that his organs may have been harvested either while he was still alive or shortly after his death. They also suspected psychiatric abuse (psychotropic drugs may have been administered) because he lost the ability to speak and became unresponsive within just 17 days of his detention. A hearing was held at the Pudong Detention Center on June 25 even though Mr. He was unfit to stand trial. A group of bailiffs carried him into the courtroom and pushed him into a chair. During the entire trial, Mr. He appeared numb and unresponsive. His elderly mother requested medical treatment for her son but was ignored.
2. Ms. Li Changfang Dies Under Suspicious Circumstances in a Prison Hospital
Ms. Li Changfang from Linyi City, Shandong Province, was arrested on October 23, 2018. She was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan on March 27, 2019.
Ms. Li began to experience a stomachache in June 2019 while being held in the Linyi City Detention Center. The pain later spread to her back and legs. Shortly after she was hospitalized on July 6, a group of doctors operated on her without her family’s consent. She remained in a coma after the surgery and her eyes were taped shut the entire time. The doctors claimed that she had complications in her liver and kidneys and they put her on a dialysis machine. She died on July 12 after the police removed the life support machines. Her body was cremated without her family’s consent.
3. Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison, Retired Colonel Dies in Prison
Mr. Gong Piqi, 66, a retired colonel from Qingdao City, was arrested on October 17, 2017. He was tried by the Shibei District Court in a makeshift courtroom inside the Pudong Detention Center on May 24, 2018. The judge handed down a 7.5-year sentence and fined him 20,000 yuan on July 20, 2018.
In prison, Mr. Gong was not allowed to buy daily necessities or take any breaks for six months because he refused to renounce Falun Gong. He also developed high blood pressure and other symptoms. He suffered a stroke and passed away on April 12, 2021. According to his brother, who saw his body, his head was injured and swollen, and blood was coming from his ears.
4. Ms. Meng Qingmei Dies While Serving Three and a Half Years
Ms. Meng Qingmei, of Heze City, was arrested on May 20, 2017, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. She was given another term of three and a half years, also to Shandong Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Meng’s family received a call from the prison around June 13, 2020, that she was in critical condition. When they rushed to the hospital, she had already passed away. Her death certificate said she died from multiple organ failure due to electrolyte imbalance. The prison authorities said Ms. Meng went on a hunger strike for 28 days before she died, but they denied force-feeding or torturing her.
Ms. Meng’s family demanded her body be brought back to Shan County, Shandong Province, where she lived, for cremation, but the authorities refused to allow it. They were forced to have Ms. Meng cremated in Jinan and took her ashes home on June 16.
5. Man Dies Months After Being Released on Medical Parole
A Weifang City resident, Mr. Chu Liwen, was arrested on September 22, 2019. He was later taken to the Weifang City Detention Center. After the Fangzi District Court returned his case twice due to insufficient evidence, the police eventually released him.
The police ordered Mr. Chu to go to the hospital for a physical exam on June 22, 2020, but he refused to comply. On January 13, 2021, the police arrested him on the street when he was selling baked flatbread, and took him to the hospital for a physical. A month later, on February 9, Mr. Chu was sentenced to eight years. He was released shortly after, as he was extremely ill while imprisoned.
Mr. Chu passed away on July 1, 2021, less than five months after he was released from prison on medical parole, shortly after he was sentenced to eight years for practicing Falun Gong. He was 65. Even three months before he died, the police still harassed Mr. Chu and his son, forcing them to live away from home.
II. Select Sentencing Cases
1. Four Falun Gong Practitioners in Yinan County Sentenced to Prison
On August 28, 2018, Mr. Liu Naixun and his wife Ms. Wang Xilan, were arrested. Their arrests were approved 35 days later. On October 23, Mr. Zu Peiying and Ms. Li Changfang, were arrested. The Yinan County Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office instructed local police, the procuratorate, and the court to combine the two cases and make one “big case” in order to meet their target of “cracking down on illegal activities.”
They set up a makeshift courtroom in the Hedong Detention Center and tried the four practitioners on January 24, 2019. The Yinan Court secretly sentenced them on March 27: Mr. Zu was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison with a 30,000 yuan fine, Mr. Liu to 3 years in prison with a 20,000 yuan fine, Ms. Li to 2.5 years in prison, and Ms. Wang to 2 years in prison. Ms. Li later died in a prison hospital (details listed above).
2. Two Women Sentenced Over Fabricated Evidence
Ms. Wang Cuiying, a 58-year-old resident in Heze City, was arrested on March 7, 2019, while distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Another practitioner, Ms. Zhao Aizhen, was arrested the same evening. Although they did not know each other, the police combined their cases and submitted them together to the procuratorate.
The two practitioners were tried through a video conference by the Juancheng County Court on March 12, 2021. The prosecutor presented over 1,000 pieces of evidence, including Falun Gong books and informational materials. He claimed that the materials were produced by Ms. Zhao at Ms. Wang’s demand. He said he had Ms. Zhao’s confession to support the charge, but Ms. Zhao denied ever making the confession. Ms. Zhao said the police did not let her read the interrogation record carefully before forcing her to sign it. Ms. Wang emphasized that she did not know Ms. Zhao before her arrest and that the police and prosecutor were working hand in hand to frame them.
Ms. Wang’s family called the court on March 28 and was told that she was sentenced to five years with a 20,000-yuan fine. Judge Fan refused to provide a copy of her verdict or any other details but only revealed that the verdict was issued on March 18. Ms. Zhao was sentenced to four and a half years with a 15,000-yuan fine.
3. Ms. Zheng Quanhua Sentenced to Seven Years
Ms. Zheng Quanhua, 63, a resident of Qingdao City, was arrested on July 17, 2018. Her home was ransacked. Her case was forwarded to the Jimo Court and she was tried in July 2019. The court informed Ms. Zheng’s family in late October that she had been sentenced to seven years in prison. She was taken to Jinan Women’s Prison on December 19, 2019.
4. Retired Doctor Wang Jianmin Sentenced to Nine Years
Ms. Wang Jianmin, a retired doctor in Laiyang City, was arrested on September 4, 2020, while depositing letters with information about the persecution into a mailbox at the Laiyang Unicom Company. The police ransacked her home in the evening when no one was there. Ms. Wang was taken to the Yantai City Detention Center and put in criminal detention on September 5. Her arrest was approved on October 12, 2020. The Yantai City Intermediate Court handed down a nine-year sentence and fined her 20,000 yuan on March 26, 2021.
5. Mr. Wang Xueyong Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison
Mr. Wang Xueyong, in his 50s, works at the Shengli Oilfield. He was arrested at home and had his place ransacked by four officers on January 8, 2020. While interrogating him, the police kept pressuring him to “plead guilty” to practicing Falun Gong. Mr. Wang refused to comply.
When the police submitted Mr. Wang’s case to the procuratorate, they included the 96 Falun Gong informational cards confiscated from him during an earlier arrest in November 2018 as evidence to charge him.
Mr. Wang was tried in the Dongying District Court through a video conference on August 20, 2020, and was sentenced to seven years and fined 30,000 yuan on September 24. He was transferred to the Shandong Province Prison on March 9, 2021, without his family’s knowledge.
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