(Minghui.org) A Huadian City, Heilongjiang Province, resident on May 9, 2023 completed a five-year prison sentence for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Prior to his latest incarceration, Mr. Fu Renjiang, 60, served two forced labor terms totaling four years (2001-2002 & 2005-2008) and one 3-year prison sentence (2010-2013). He was brutally tortured during each detention.

Earliest Persecution

Mr. Fu went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong after the persecution began in July 1999. He unfurled a banner saying “Falun Dafa is good” on Tiananmen Square and was arrested. While being interrogated at the Tiananmen Police Station, he refused to reveal his name as he did not want his local government to get implicated. The Beijing police pushed him down and whipped him with rubber clubs on the back and legs, which all turned black and blue. He still struggled to turn his body at night more than one month later. The police used rolled up magazines to slap him on the face and ears. They sprayed his face with water and spit on him.

Mr. Fu was not allowed to sleep during his two days of detention at the police station. On the third day, he was taken to the Yanshan Detention Center, where the guards had inmates rub chili peppers into his eyes. He felt sharp pain and couldn’t stop shedding tears. 

His local police picked him up from Beijing and held him at the Huadian City Detention Center. Two officers interrogated him with torture. They cuffed his hands and forced him to bend at a 90 degree angle. They later removed his shoes and forced him to stand barefoot on the cement floor. One officer stomped on his toes with leather shoes. He was tortured like this for several hours. It was unclear when he was released.

Given One Year of Forced Labor in 2001 

Mr. Fu was arrested again in 2001 and soon given one year of forced labor. 

While serving time at the Huanxiling Labor Camp, Mr. Fu was forced to sit on a small stool or a metal bar for long periods of time. He was only allowed two hours of sleep every night. He was also forced to run laps outside. When he was soaked with sweat, the guards had him stand outside in wind for extended periods of time.

Mr. Fu was released in 2002 but arrested again in spring 2003. His wife and his mother in her 70s tried to stop the police from taking him away, but both women were pushed aside. He was detained for 15 days.

Given Three Years of Forced Labor in 2005, Mother Dies in Grief

Mr. Fu was arrested in the winter of 2005 and taken to the Shengli Police Station. Two officers from Jilin City came to interrogate him. They cuffed his hands behind his back and restrained him in a metal chair. They poured wasabi seed oil into his nostril. He almost choked and spit out the oil from his mouth. Such torture lasted several hours each time.

The police soon gave Mr. Fu three years of forced labor. His mother was dealt a heavy blow and died while he was still detained. 

Sentenced to Three Years in 2010

Mr. Fu was arrested in April 2010 while talking to people about Falun Gong. The Changshan Police Station took him to the Huadian City Detention Center. He was later sentenced to three years. 

The guards at the Gongzhuling Prison forced Mr. Fu to sit on a small stool for long hours every day for almost eight months. He was then assigned to Division Four to do hard labor. Due to the mental pressure and the heavy workload, his stomach hurt for two days non-stop and he sweat profusely. He struggled to walk on the third day and was rushed to the hospital. 

The doctors said that there was pus everywhere in Mr. Fu’s intestines and that he would have died if he came a few minutes later. They operated on him and took out his intestines to flush out the pus. For ten days post-surgery, he could not drink or eat and relied on nasal feeding. He was discharged two weeks later. In about five days of his return to the prison, the guards started ordering him to do hard labor, even though he was still wobbly and weak. 

While he was in prison, his wife had an affair and gave birth to a girl. After he was released, he filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese dictator who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong, for breaking up his family and causing him irreparable damage.

Latest Arrest in May 2018

Mr. Fu was putting up Falun Gong posters on the night of May 10, 2018, when a police car stopped in front of him. He turned around to escape but was blocked by a group of officers, including captain Sun Baohua and Zhang Chunguang. They took him to the Xinhua Police Station and restrained him in a metal chair (see image below)

Torture illustration: restrained in a metal chair

During the interrogation, Mr. Fu refused to reveal his name or the source of the posters. The police managed to identify him through their database and kept pressing him to reveal where he got the posters. He then said he produced the posters all by himself. 

Captain Sun and another officer took Mr. Fu to the restroom, where there was no surveillance cameras. They pushed him down and abraded his armpits and ribs. He was extremely uncomfortable and tried to get away, but the torture continued. He almost passed out. Only then did they stop. 

As soon as Mr. Fu got a bit better, the police pushed him down again and pinched the artery at the base of his thighs. He was in so much pain that he felt his heart skipped a beat. He also felt chest tightness and gasped for air. He yelled that he could no longer stand it. The police then stopped and took him back to the interrogation room to be restrained in the same metal chair again. 

Mr. Fu felt like spitting phlegm and Sun untied him from the chair. He spit out some phlegm with blood stain in the restroom. After he came back to the interrogation room, he was again restrained to the metal chair. 

Sun threatened Mr. Fu, “Don’t you believe that I can beat you to death?” He repeated it two more times. Officer Zhang then came in with a notice to detain Mr. Fu for 15 days. They next took him to a local lockup. 

Sentenced to 5 Years in Late 2018

When the 15-day detention period ended, the police picked Mr. Fu up from the lockup. They showed him a picture of his home being raided and asked if the items shown in the photo were his. Only then did Mr. Fu know that the police had raided his home after arresting him in May 2018. He condemned them for raiding his home without any legal basis.

Captain Sun then took Mr. Fu to a hospital for a physical examination but didn’t tell him the results. He next drove Mr. Fu to a local detention center. On the way there, he yanked on Mr. Fu’s beard, causing a lot of pain. 

The police interrogated Mr. Fu at the detention center but he refused to reveal where he got the copy paper and posters.

The Huadian City Court tried Mr. Fu without notifying his family in November 2018. After the hearing, he was kept in a small cage. Judge Zhang Xiuyun soon came and ordered him to sign some paperwork. He refused to sign and was taken back to the detention center. Not long after, he received a verdict of five years.

Tortured in Gongzhuling Prison

Mr. Fu was admitted to the Gongzhuling Prison on November 28, 2018. As soon as he was taken into the newcomers’ team, captain Li Mingyang forced him to strip down to his underwear. Li next brought him to an office and pushed him down. Inmate Li Kai was there to help torture Mr. Fu.

The two Li’s each held a 10,000-volt electric baton and shocked Mr. Fu on the knees and calves. Li Kai also attempted to shock him inside the mouth and he tried his best to keep his mouth shut. They did not stop until the batons ran out of charge. By then, Mr. Fu could not walk steadily. Within a few days, the skin that had been shocked with the batons turned black and festered. It took more than a month for Mr. Fu to recover.

There were about fifty practitioners, including Mr. Fu, in the newcomers’ team. They were ordered to get up at 5 a.m. every day. After washing up, they must sit on small stools with their eyes open and back straight. They were not allowed to talk to each other and were ordered to memorize pro-CCP books. At 6 p.m., it was time to sing pro-CCP songs. Anyone who refused to sing would be reprimanded, beaten, or shocked with electric batons. After the singing session, they had to do military drills and remain in certain postures until bed time at 9 p.m.

Practitioners were not allowed to talk to each other when they ran into each other in the hallway; or they’d be beaten. They were also ordered to write monthly “thought reports.” 

Once, Mr. Fu and another practitioner dozed off during the break and guard Lyu Kai forced him to stand for a whole day and write a self-criticism statement. Mr. Fu asked to know what legal basis Lyu had to abuse him and Lyu said there was none but he could shock Mr. Fu with electric batons every day if he felt like to.

When an inspection team came to the prison, Mr. Fu complained about the torture he and other jailed practitioners suffered. An inmate reported him to the guards, who then accused him of being mentally ill and moved him to a team for the mentally ill. 

After Mr. Fu was released on May 9, 2023, he learned that the police had also seized 7,000 yuan cash from his home after arresting him in May 2018. 

Related Article in Chinese:

被迫害妻离子散　吉林桦甸付仁江控告江泽民

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