Mr. Kunlun Zhang, a Falun Gong practitioner and a Canadian citizen is an Art professor, who was teaching at Shandong Art University in China. He was unlawfully detained on three separate occasions in which he was beaten and tortured for his beliefs in Falun Gong (a.k.a. Falun Dafa). He was fined 10,000 yuan, the equivalent of over one year's salary in China. On Wednesday, November 15, 2000, he was sentenced, without trial, to three years in a Chinese labor camp. He is currently being temporarily held at Liu Chang Shan Detention Center in Jinan (City), Shandong Province, but has been told that he will be moved to a different labor camp in the near future. Immediate action by the Canadian government is necessary because Chinese authorities will not release the name of the labor camp and it will be extremely difficult to find Mr. Zhang after he is transferred.
Mr. Zhang's daughter Lindi, a student at Ottawa University, is appealing to the Canadian government for help. Her mother is still under surveillance and house arrest in China. Falun Gong practitioners across Canada support Lindi and her family. We appeal to the Federal government and all elected representatives to urge China to stop their attacks on Falun Gong practitioners and to immediately release Mr. Zhang and all innocent Falun Gong people currently detained in jails, labor camps and mental hospitals..
Mr. Zhang's case is one of numerous instances of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China. The persecution and interference against Falun Gong has now extended beyond China's borders. Countries affected include Australia, the United States, and now Canada. Practitioners and their families have experienced harassment and interference. Government officials who have shown their support for Falun Gong have been pressured by Chinese embassies and consulates to withdraw proclamations and greeting letters.
Once again, we appeal to the Canadian government and all Canadians to bring about an immediate release of Mr. Zhang and all Falun Dafa practitioners detained in China.
For more details on these instances, please contact:
Toronto - John 416-361-5939
Ottawa - Lucy 613-862-7494
613-599-7494
Request for help from the Government of Canada
Dear Sir/Madam,
Our names are LingDi and JenWei ZHANG. We are Canadian citizens living in Ottawa and Montreal.
We are calling for immediate intervention of the government of Canada in the case of my parents in distress in People's Republic of China.
Our father KunLun ZHANG, is a Canadian citizen. He was severely tortured and sent to a labor camp without trial on November 15, 2000.
Our mother Shumei ZHANG, is a permanent resident of Canada. She was detained and is now under house arrest.
All of this because they are practitioners of FALUN GONG and
refuse to renounce their beliefs in this gentle and good practice and also refuse to do acts to defame FALUNGONG.
FALUNGONG is a gentle exercise and mediation and also a principle to guide people to follow "Truth, Compassion and Tolerance" in their daily lives.
Chinese government illegally banned the practice of FALUNGONG in China in July 1999.
Here are the details of our situation:
My father is an art professor who teaches at the Shandong University of Arts in China. He has been detained three times since July 2000 without legal procedures or trial.
On July 27th, 2000 my father was practicing Falun Gong in a public park with others. He was arrested and taken to jail. He was beaten and tortured with electric shocks. He was forced to watch Chinese
government propaganda that defames FALUN GONG. He was forced to write a pledge to renounce FALUN GONG. He was released on August 27th 2000.
My father was arrested a second time as he and many other practitioners from Shandong province peacefully appealed to the Chinese Government to clarify facts and tell the truth about Falun Gong.
He and the other practitioners were fined 10,000 Yuan, equivalent to over one years pay. My father refused to pay in order to protest against this violation of his constitutionally guaranteed human rights and freedoms of belief and expression. He was told the fine would be deducted from his salary.
While in detention my father and other practitioners went on a hunger strike to protest the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners. After six days on a hunger strike my father and a few others became very weak. They were sent to the hospital. On November 5th, 2000, he was sent home and was told that he will be detained right after his health recovered.
Two days ago on November 15th 2000, my father was sentenced to a labor camp for three (3) years without a trial and without prevention from the Canadian Embassy for his basic rights.
He is being now temporarily detained at " LIU CHANG SHAN DETENTION CENTER" located in South-West of Jinan, Shandong province, waiting to be transferred.
On July 27th 2000, my mother was arrested for practicing Falun Gong in a park. Because her 90-year old mother is completely disabled at home and she is the only one to take care of her mother, she was allowed to go home, but is under house arrest and confined to her home without any freedom. Her telephone is monitored constantly.
Her current address is:
Qian Fo Shan Dong Lu # 3
Jinan, Shandong Province
Postal Code: 250014
People's Republic of China
Once again, we are calling for the Canadian Government to intervene in this urgent matter:
Please urge the Chinese Government to release my Father, a Canadian citizen from prison before he is transferred to a secret detention center and disappears like thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in the past year.
Please help to get my mother and father out of China for the sake of their security and their fundamental rights and freedoms.
Sincerely yours,
LingDi ZHANG
Category: Accounts of Persecution
