(Clearwisdom.net) The 610 Office is a special agency of the communist regime that came into existence for and is dedicated to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. It is directly responsible for the arrest, trial and even the term of imprisonment of each Falun Gong practitioner.

In Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province, Jiao Xiyun and Zhang Rulin were the heads of the Political and Judiciary Committee, and Li Shoutian, Li Xiangyang, and Song Changjiang have been the heads of the 610 Office since 1999.

The Xingcheng City 610 Office has persecuted dozens of practitioners including Xia Ning, Ji Xiuhua, Han Dequan, Hu Yongli, Guo Chunzhan, Zhao Liang, Ren Wenpeng, Song Caihong, Wang Shoufen, Liu Wenxiu, Zhang Wenyou, Yan Xiaodong, Li Chunsheng, and Tian Zhenliang, wrongfully sentencing them to terms of from three to eight years. Thousands of practitioners have been subjected to forced labor and detention. Many of their houses were ransacked and robbed, and many of them were fired from their jobs and had huge amounts of money extorted from them.

When the practitioners mentioned above were put on trial, most of the proceedings were held internally, omitting public court sessions and avoiding lawyers. When their family members argued with the judges, they all were given similar answers: "The 610 Office determines the terms of the sentences; our decisions don't count. We just sign the paperwork and go through the formality." An official from the police department bluntly told a practitioner's family: "The 610 Office decides how many years a practitioner will be sentenced to because they have the final say."

Currently, the international community is condemning the Chinese Communist Party for its persecution of Falun Gong. Afraid of being investigated and held responsible for its criminal acts, personnel from the 610 Office never keep paper files of their work, circulating most of their directives orally.

Category: Accounts of Persecution