Zhou Yong, a technical leader in Chengdu City Factory of Air Compression Machinery and vocal critic of the Chinese government's aggression against Falun Gong, fell to his death under unclear circumstances as police ransacked his apartment. Police claim that Zhou "jumped." This marks the sixth time in as many weeks that Chinese police claimed a Falun Gong practitioner under their supervision died by "falling" or "jumping" from a building.

Zhou's wife, Chen Ying, was taken away by police after the incident. Nobody has heard from her since.

Police officials in Chengdu confirmed Zhou's death, but refused to explain the cause or circumstances. This new report comes amidst an alarming increase in reported deaths surrounding the Chinese National Day. It is the fifth wrongful death of a Falun Gong practitioner in Chengdu this year.

On average, in at least one out of every six wrongful death cases of Falun Gong practitioners in China, local officials have claimed the victim "jumped" from a building, moving train, or other vehicle. Amnesty International has called these reports "unconvincing," pointing out that that anyone seeking to publicize the wrongful deaths has suffered severe reprisals.

Those who knew him say Zhou felt strongly that the persecution of people who practice Falun Gong was wrong, and frequently attempted to reveal the truth about the persecution to his colleagues and office leaders. On multiple occasions, Zhou had been pressured by local police, the factory Security Department, and the Street Residence Committee to sign guarantees that he would stop appealing on behalf of Falun Gong and break off contact with other Falun Gong practitioners. Zhou never complied.

The total number of documented deaths from the two-year-plus persecution of Falun Gong in China has now reached 295, although government sources inside China disclose that the actual number exceeds 1,000.

More than 100,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally arrested and detained since communist chief Jiang Zemin banned the peaceful spiritual practice in July of 1999. At least 20,000 have been sent to labor camps without trial, and thousands more have been illegally confined in mental hospitals where they are tortured and abused.