(Clearwisdom.net) Officials in Yishui County, Shandong Province, have followed in the footsteps of Jiang Zemin and his clique to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. They force practitioners to attend brainwashing sessions, during which they play videos and news clips that slander and attack Falun Gong and its founder.

The officials have resorted to various types of torture, such as burning victims with cigarettes; hitting them with rubber clubs, wooden sticks, and bamboo boards; whipping them with belts; and pouring cold water over their heads in the winter, as well as making them do push-ups and long distance running. The police kicked the practitioners' chests with heavy boots, shocked their mouths and private parts with electric batons, and forced them to do hard labor. They ransacked the practitioners' homes and imposed illegal fines. They confiscated practitioners' crops, tractors, tools, and valuables from their homes. Over the past few years, officials from Zhuge Town have extorted over 100,000 yuan from the practitioners and have held three brainwashing sessions. Thirty-five practitioners were sent to the Yishui County Detention Center, and seven practitioners were taken to labor camp(s).

A long list of individual incidents of persecution committed by Zhuge Town officials over the last several years are presented below.

When the persecution began on July 20, 1999, Comprehensive Administration Office head Wang Zhiguo in Gucun Township forced the practitioners to give up their Falun Gong books. Each practitioner was charged six yuan to be photographed and have their profiles entered into the village database. This paved the way for further persecution.

The practitioners were forced to watch slanderous videos for three days at the large auditorium in Gucun Township. Hundreds of practitioners were forced to publicly renounce their belief.

Practitioners Liu Benshan and his son, Liu Jinghua, from Xiajunyu Village, and Mr. Duan from Wenzuo Village set out to appeal for Falun Gong. They were intercepted by plainclothes police officers at the Zhangdian Bus Station in Zibo City, Shandong Province. Mr. Liu Benshan and Mr. Liu Jinghua were taken back to the village. Wang Jianhua, deputy head of Zhuge Town, and Di Wenrui, deputy head of the Comprehensive Administration, escorted the father and son. Gu Yuxing, deputy head of Zhuge Town, beat his brother-in-law, Mr. Liu Jinghua, inside the Huajian Uranium Factory. Official Wang Jianhua and Party secretaries Wang Jian, Di Wenrui, and Yu Xiujun took Mr. Liu Benshan, who was in his 70s, to the Yishui County Detention Center and held him there for one month.

Practitioner Wang Dechun was savagely beaten during an illegal arrest. Gucun Township Police Station head Wang Qingguo handcuffed practitioners Wang Dechun and Li Yuzhang. In the evening, official Gu Yuxing slapped and kicked practitioner Wang Dechun. Later on, more than 100 people beat the two practitioners. They kicked the practitioners' heads and chests with their hard boots and slapped their faces. After the beating, the practitioners' coats were removed and they were forced to sit on the concrete floor while holding up a chair with bricks on top. They had to maintain this posture for an entire evening.

Mr. Li Yuzhang, 59, from Beimenlou Village, and Mr. Wang Dechun, around 30 years old, from Donghexi Village used to be the local bullies. After they became Falun Gong practitioners, however, they stopped getting into fights. They were held for seven days and tortured by officials headed by Wang Qingguo. Wang Dechun's hair was pulled out in bunches. They beat him until his body was so swollen that he could not remove his clothes. Wang Qingguo slapped Li Yuzhang's face while ordering him not to tell anyone about the abuse. Yang Xiubin told Li Yuzhang to hold up his arms, level with his shoulders, after which he put rubber clubs on his arms and told him to hold still. After a while, Yang took the clubs and started whipping Li Yuzhang with them. Wang Qingguo told Yang Xiubin to extort 600 yuan from Li Yuzhang's family. Li Yuzhang's wife had to borrow the money.

Practitioner Ms. Tang Zhaoling used to suffer from severe and debilitating asthma. It was not uncommon to spend several thousand yuan a year in medical expenses. She was completely cured, however, after she started practicing Falun Gong. Practitioners Ms. Li Donglian and Ms. Cao Yongshu (Wang Dechun's wife) were held for seven days. Ms. Tang had 5,000 yuan extorted from her. Ms. Li and Ms. Cao each had 300 yuan extorted from her.

Wang Qingguo deceived Mr. Li Yuzhang and Mr. Wang Dechun's families by promising to release the two practitioners after receiving 5,000 yuan from each family. The families exhausted their resources and turned in the money one morning, but the two practitioners were transferred to the Yishui Custody Center that same afternoon. They were held for 15 days. The families had another 200 yuan in "living expenses" extorted from them. While he was detained, Mr. Li's 96-year-old father passed away without seeing his son for the last time. Before releasing them, Wang Qingguo extorted another 50 yuan from each practitioner. Practitioners Ms. Li Donglian, Ms. Cao Yongshu, Mr. Wang Dechun, and Mr. Li Yuzhang have been compelled to report to the government twice a day ever since.

Party secretaries Zhao Lianxiang and Wang Qingguo deceived practitioners Ms. Li Donglian and Ms. Cao Yongshu into going to the Gucun Township government in April 2000. When the officials asked if they would continue to practice Falun Gong, the practitioners answered, "I will practice if I have time." Each had 3,000 yuan extorted from her.

Ms. Tang Zhaoling was distributing flyers dispelling Communist Party lies in the Gucun Market on August 14, 2000. She gave one copy to official Wang Qingguo's wife. She took Ms. Tang to the Fengjiazhuang brainwashing center, where officials Li Hongwei and Hao Fengjin savagely beat her. They whipped her with thick rubber tubes and coerced her to curse Falun Gong and its founder. They gave her three meals a day and asked her to denigrate her belief before each meal. When she refused, they hit her. Once, Li Hongwei slapped her face until her mouth began to swell. A tall young man whipped her with elm branches until her hands were swollen. Another man first kicked her to the floor and then kicked her abdomen, which made her incontinent. She was bedridden for several days and had to be carried to the restroom. Hao Fengjin and several others beat her.

Yishui County Politics and Law Committee secretary went to the Fengjiazhuang Brainwashing Center to search for Falun Gong materials. A young man asked Ms. Tang why she practiced Falun Gong to which she replied that Falun Gong had cured her illnesses. The young man then beat her. He wrote slanderous paragraphs on a piece of paper and made her fingerprint the paper. Tang Zhaoling was held for a whole month at the brainwashing center and was forced to pay 6,200 yuan.

Ms. Tang Zhaoling went to Beijing to appeal on January 3, 2001, and was tortured by Beijing police. She did not reveal her name and returned safely. Ruan Bo, a local ruffian from Gucun Township, along with Feng Wenyuan took Ms. Tang to the Gucun Township brainwashing center on January 17 and 18, 2001. She had to sit on the cold concrete floor for more than ten hours a day and watch defamatory videos. Some practitioners suffered from diarrhea. The practitioners were also compelled to run for several hours a day. Song Yuwang held a bamboo board and Sun Mingyong grabbed a willow branch to force the practitioners to run, otherwise, they would whip the practitioners. They made sure the practitioners ran from morning until afternoon. When practitioner Ms. Li Donglian collapsed from exhaustion, Song Yuwang whacked her legs until they turned black and blue. Practitioner Ms. Wang Fufang's shoes were worn out.

Practitioner Mr. Ding Qiang and his wife, Ma Yingde, from Xiagucun Township went to Beijing to appeal in November 2000. They were intercepted and returned to Zhuge Town. Local police station head Wu Wei whipped Mr. Ding, and a police officer shocked his mouth and private parts with electric baton(s). Officer Sun Peichuan stripped off practitioner Ms. Ma's coat and whipped her back. They took her to Fengjiazhuang Brainwashing Center, where she was forced to pay 4,000 yuan. Mr. Ding Qiang and his wife were transferred from Fengjiazhuang Brainwashing Center to the Yishui County Detention Center. Ms. Ma's sister-in-law was also arrested and forced to sit with her. She kept verbally assaulting Ms. Ma and pinched her at night to keep her from falling asleep. Mr. Ding Qiang and his wife spent the 2001 Chinese New Year in the detention center while their two young children and parents were left uncared for.

Officials Zhao Lianxiang, Zhao Lianmao, and Wang Qingguo encouraged Xiagucun Township government officials to hold a brainwashing session at the township government offices. Mr. Ding Qiang and his wife were transferred to this brainwashing session on February 18, 2001. Official Huang Baohui ordered all practitioners to stand in a line and say, "Report! I will now drink water," each time before they took a sip of water. Ms. Ma Yingde refused to comply, and Huang Baohui slapped her face.

Wang Qingguo ransacked practitioner Mr. Ding Qiang's home in search of money but could not find any. He then asked to "borrow" money from Mr. Ding, but Mr. Ding refused. Ruan Bo and four others locked him in a small room and beat him for eight hours until he was nearly paralyzed. They took all the food from Ding Qiang's home except two bags of corn, only because his two children and parents begged them to leave something. They also tried to sell Mr. Ding's house. His sister was arrested and forced to pay 4,300 yuan.

Duan Baoxin, an official from Bao Village, deceived Mr. Li Yuzhang into the Gucun Township brainwashing center ,where Ruan Bo brutally beat him. He whipped Mr. Li with belt(s) and hit him with wooden sticks because he refused to insult Falun Gong and its founder. Sun Mingyong, Song Yuwang, Huang Baohuim and Wei Qingliang went to Mr. Li's home and tried to extort money. His wife was frightened and left home, and only his daughter, Li Jinlingm and infant granddaughter were home. The officials forced Ms. Li Jinling to borrow money and took her husband to the village Party committee office, where they beat and kicked him. Sun Mingyong screamed at Ms. Li Jinling and threatened to hit her unless she handed over 4,200 yuan. She could not borrow 4,200 yuan, so the four officials harassed and intimidated her on a daily basis. She had no choice but to sell the only thing she had, a supply of dried sweet potatoes, but still fell short of the officials' demands. The officials then forced her to beg each one of her father's relatives and friends until she came up with the 4,200 yuan.

Ms. Cai Yongshu from Xi Village, Donghe, went to Beijing to appeal in November 2000. She was arrested and taken to the Yishui County Detention Center, where she was held for a month before being taken to Gucun Brainwashing Center. Her husband, Wang Dechun, was also arrested. The officials demanded 8,400 yuan, which the family did not have. Officials Sun Mingyong, Song Yuwang, Huang Baohui ,and Wei Qingliang harassed her family on a daily basis and threatened Cai Yongshu's father, who was forced to disown his daughter and son-in-law. They put a hat over practitioner Wang Dechun's father who was in his 70s and savagely beat him. They sold Mr. Wang Dechun's crops and kept the money. They took his tractor to the county government compound and used it as a trash truck.

Ms. Meng Fanying and her sister, Meng Fanhua, from Taoshuwan Village would embrace and cry when the officials came to their home and demanded money, because the officials had beaten one of their two brothers, and the other one was going around begging for money [in order to satisfy the officials].

Sun Mingyong went to practitioner Liu Jingfen's home in Taoshuwan Village to demand money. He forced Liu Jingfen's father-in-law, who was in his 70s, to kneel in the snow and take out all of his money, including spare change. Sun Mingyong was angry that he did not get much money and slapped Liu Jingfen.

An 18-year-old girl near Xinmin Township read the book Zhuan Falun to her mother, who was semi-paralyzed, and she was then cured. She was arrested and taken to the Gucun Township brainwashing center. Official Ruan Bo threatened that if she studied the Falun Gong books or did the Falun Gong exercises, she would be hung from the ceiling.

Mr. Ma Yingde was reported and arrested in 2002 when distributing Falun Gong materials in Majiawang Village. Four officials from the Zhuge Town Police Station arrested him in September 2002 and took him to the Yishui County Detention Center, where he was held for a month. He was eventually taken to Linyi Brainwashing Center.

Ms. Tang Zhaoling was arrested on July 8, 2002, when she was distributing materials in Gaoqiao. She was taken back to Zhuge Town and Party secretary Zhang and Wang Chunting held her for six weeks. She had to sell a pregnant sow because she could not take care of it. One sheep and more than 30 rabbits died during her incarceration, resulting in more than 1,000 yuan in financial losses.

Ms. Li Donglian gave two copies of Falun Gong materials to village Party secretary Ma Lide's wife, Li Shilan, on April 19, 2004, and was reported. The next day Song Chengbo and others from Zhuge Town Police Station arrested her. They held Ms. Li in the Yishui County Detention Center for 22 days, after which she was sent to Jinan City Women's Forced Labor Camp, where she was held for 18 months.

Li Yuyou and others from the Yishui County National Security Division; Yang Zhenlong and Liu Tao, heads of Zhuge Town People's Congress; and Shen Heng, deputy head of the police station, arrested practitioner Mr. Li Huazhang, who was in his late 60s, and made him knock on his brother Li Yuzhang's door. They arrested Mr. Li Yuzhang after he opened the door, leaving behind his young granddaughter. Village Party secretary Li Shisheng helped the officials ransack Li Yuzhang's home. Officials from the National Security Division savagely beat Li Yuzhang and Li Huazhang in the evening and took them to Yishui County Detention Center, where the inmates brutally attacked Li Huazhang. National security officials Wang Jinlong, Zhang Zhenqiang, Gang Zi, and others savagely beat Li Yuzhang. After more than 30 days of detention, Li Yuzhang was secretly transferred to Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, where he was held for one year.

During this time, Mr. Li Yuzhang's daughter frequently went to the police department and county government to demand her father's unconditional release. Song Wei, Li Yuyou, Xie Fugui, and other officials at the police department's National Security Division threatened her. They also drove her and her seven-year-old son away in a police car.

Zhou Xiao, Song Chengbo and other officials from Zhuge Town Police Station went to practitioner Tang Zhaoling's home in Gucun Township the evening of August 5, 2007 and took Falun Gong books and Mr. Li Hongzhi's pictures. They forced her to leave her fingerprints and sign a document.

Another group of officials from the Zhuge Town Police Station broke into practitioner Ms. Li Donglian's home in Majiawang Village and forced her to sign document(s) and give her fingerprints and handwriting samples.

Officials Wang Jianhua and Wang Jian photographed Falun Gong practitioners living within the jurisdiction of the Zhuge Town Police Station's precinct at the beginning of the persecution and extorted between 500 yuan and 1,000 yuan from each practitioner in "fines." Wang Jianhua and Ruan Bo forced the practitioners to watch videos slandering Falun Gong and Teacher. Mr. Wang Guixiang refused to give up Falun Gong. Official Song Yuwang beat him with book(s) and forced him to sit on the concrete floor. One night, official Lan Bo beat and kicked Mr. Wang.

Wang Jianhua and Geng Wenrui arrested practitioners Mr. Liu Benshan, Mr. Chen Jinzhen, Mr. Yu Junhuai, Liu Lijun, and Ms. Wang Guixiang and held them at the town Party office. Official Wang Jianhua hit and verbally assaulted practitioner Ms. Wang Guixiang and kicked her to the floor.

Mr. Yu Junhuai, in his 70s, and his daughter were pinned to the ground for practicing the Falun Gong exercises. Wang Jianhua also ruthlessly beat Ms. Wang Guixiang with a metal hook.

Mr. Wang Guixiang and Liu Lijun found an opportunity to escape. The town Party Committee officials dispatched many cars to look for them but could not find them. Official Geng Wenrui vented his frustration on practitioner Mr. Chen Jinzhen. Ruan Bo grabbed Mr. Chen's head and banged it against a column. His nose bled and his face was covered in blood. His face and lips were swollen from the beating. Ruan Bo also took a television and sheep(s) from Mr. Chen's home and forced him to pay 850 yuan.

When Ruan Bo could not find practitioner Ms. Wang Guixiang, he arrested her husband, Yu Songbao. He made Yu Songbao squat while holding two boxes in his hands. He kept adding charcoal to the boxes in order to escalate the torture. He screamed, "There are 1,000 ways to 'fix' someone, and I know 999 of them. I'll try every single one of them on you!" He took 5,000 yuan from Yu Songbao.

Ms. Wang Guixiang appealed in Beijing in December 1999 and was savagely beaten by Wang Jianhua, who ordered Ruan Bo to pour a bucket of cold water over Ms. Wang. It was winter. The weather was freezing. Ms. Wang tried to go home and change clothes, but Yu Songjian and Ruan Bo dragged her back on the ground. Her pant legs were abraded on the ground, leaving a hole in her pants. She was then held at the Yishui County Custody Center for 15 days.

Mr. Liu Benshan from the Shaft Milling Machine Factory went to Beijing to appeal in November 2000. He was arrested and taken to the Yishui County Detention Center by Geng Wenrui ,who also took 100 yuan cash from him. Inmate Hou tortured Mr. Liu in the detention center. Mr. Liu was forced to take daily cold showers and he endured other forms of abuse. He was later taken to the Spline Shaft Milling Machine Factory and held there for seven days, after which he was sent to the Fengjiazhuang brainwashing center. At the brainwashing center, official Wang Jianhua withheld Liu Benshan's salary. After about two weeks Mr. Liu was taken to a custody center. The police took him to the Jinan Forced Labor Camp, but he did not pass the physical exam. The police then took him to Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, which also refused to accept him. The police brought him back to the Yishui Custody Center and held him there for 15 days.

Officials Wang Jian and Wang Jianhua ordered Ruan Bo and Yu Songjian to take practitioners Wang Guixiang, Liu Lijun, Miao Defang, Liu Hongsan, Chen Zhuai, Pang Chuanzhi, and Liu Shizhu to the Fengjiazhuang brainwashing center. The practitioners were forced to pull weeds while the officials beat them. They were forced to run in the bean field. where the sharp leaves cut their bare feet. Ruan Bo whipped them with tree branches. He also sent the following people to the brainwashing center: practitioner Wang Guixiang's mother and mother-in-law; Liu Lijun's mother, Yu Junhuai; and Miao Defang's husband. They put placards around the practitioners' necks and put badges on the practitioners' families that read, "Personnel to accompany the study."

Ruan Bo and Yu Songjian frequently harassed Ms. Wang Guixiang at her home and demanded money. Her husband, Yu Songbao, was so frightened that he went into exile, and their child was left uncared for. Ruan Bo looted Ms. Wang's home and took valuables such as pipes, pumps, and other things. Ruan Bo and Yu Songjian then extorted 1,000 yuan from Yu Songbao's brother.