Xie Zhenggong - 谢正功
(Minghui.org) Mr. Xie Zhenggong from Urumqi Bayi Iron and Steel Company, Ltd. in Xinjiang Autonomous Region was subjected to long-term persecution because he practiced Falun Gong. His hair and beard had turned gray after eight years of imprisonment. He fainted at around 11:30 p.m. on May 12, 2012. His family sent him to a hospital for emergency treatment. He died on May 24, 2012 at the age of 42.
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Mr. Xie Zhenggong
Mr. Xie was previously an assistant at a Falun Gong practice site. He was illegally arrested on July 20, 1999, and detained for over 40 days. Many of his co-workers were moved by his righteousness and great compassion and tolerance, and began learning the truth about Falun Gong in a positive way.
Mr. Xie was arrested in early 2001. His wife was giving birth at the time. He was taken away before he had a chance to see his infant son. His young wife has wept so much that she is nearly out of tears.
In January 2003, the judge sentenced Mr. Xie to a six-year prison term, and Mr. Xie was transferred to Xinjiang No. 5 Prison.
Mr. Xie was deprived of family visitation for over a year, as he refused to cooperate with guard Zhang Yongjun. The letters between his family and he were often held back by guards.
In 2004, Zhang Yongjun organized a large-scale brainwashing session in the prison. He invited eleven so called “experts” to try to brainwash the practitioners. He forced the practitioners to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong for more than twelve hours. He ordered the inmates who were assigned to monitor the practitioners to shake the ones that shut their eyes and refused to watch. If a practitioner shut their eyes, he was considered to be violating the prison regulations and was punished. Mr. Xie did not listen and went to sleep once. Zhang came in at midnight and woke everyone up in the cell. Zhang criticized the inmates, “Xie did not follow the rules. You still let him sleep? Then you will help him see his issue. You won't get any sleep.” Xie said, “You're playing tricks. You are triggering the enmity between us.” Zhang said, “Shouldn't you practitioners be nice to others? You should see your issue quickly. Then the inmates who are monitoring you will be relieved from doing this.”
One day in 2006, Mr. Xie did the Falun Gong exercises. The guard took him to a confinement cell and ordered about six inmates to lock him onto the tiger bench. The bench is a square cement block. Each arm was handcuffed to the side. There is a metal ring on the floor in front of the bench. The practitioner's legs are set straight and locked to the metal ring. One cannot make a single move in that position. Mr. Xie was locked onto the tiger bench for days and nights. 15 days later, Zhang said to Mr. Xie, “Everyone will be relieved if you transform. If you don't, your family and the other inmates will be involved.” Mr. Xie refused to “transform.” Zhang threatened, “After three rounds of such confinement (15 days per round), if you still don't cooperate with us, we can extend your prison term.”
Mr. Xie was again locked in confinement. During this time, he developed chest pain and breathing problems. The prison doctor found that his blood pressure was extremely high. Only then did the guard let him off from the tiger bench.
Another practitioner, Mr. Zhang Shunxin, received the same punishment as Mr. Xie. Mr. Zhang refused to wear the prison uniform. The guards took off Mr. Zhang's clothes, left him in shorts, and locked him in a dark room.
The inmates who monitored the practitioners don't participate in labor. Their full-time job is to monitor and “transform” practitioners. The guards even used term reductions to instigate the inmates. In order to get the term reductions, the inmates used various methods to abuse practitioners, including swearing, cursing, beatings, and threats. They tortured the practitioners with physical torture devices, and even fabricated evidence to increase practitioners' terms.
Due to the long-term hard labor, Mr. Xie's hair and beard had turned gray, and he got many calluses on his hands and feet.
When Mr. Xie was released from prison in 2008, personnel from the local residential committee often went to his home. This created huge interference for the entire family's work and life, and brought mental harm to them. Mr. Xie had to leave home often to avoid harassment. He once went to Jimsar to visit his mother. The personnel followed him there and threatened his family.
After his death on May 24, 2012, Mr. Xie's body was taken back to his hometown to be buried. His family and relatives are mourning for him. They are crying out for the injustice that this kind, young man suffered. There's no place for a good person to live under the Chinese Communist Party's rule.
