(Minghui.org) The following Falun Gong practitioners are currently illegally detained in the sixth ward of Deyang Prison: Jiang Zonglin (former president of the Mingyuan Construction Research Institution in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, sentenced to five years in prison); Li Changli (an engineer at Chengdu Liaoyuan Plant, sentenced to seven years in prison); Yu Kaixin, Wei Zhaohai, Zhang Zhigang (sentenced to four years), and others. Other practitioners tortured there include: Wu Fengquan (sentenced to four years), Jiang Zonglin, Tang Xiewen, Yan Xiaoping, Liao Yuanfu, Shen Bing, and others.
Persecution in the Sixth Ward at Deyang Prison
The sixth ward of Deyang Prison is the place where guards initiate the most severe persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Since February of 2011, as ordered by head Liu Yuanhang, the guards forced practitioners to write the three statements using a variety of cruel means. Following are some details.
Mr. Li Changli was locked in a solitary confinement cell. Meanwhile, criminals Wu Keming and Zhou Hanping took turns attacking and insulting him. They abused Li, resulting in injury to his feet. He became lame and could not straighten his lower back. They did not allow him to go to the toilet and forced him to do slave labor for several months.
They forced Mr. Tang to be exposed to the scorching sun and to run for several hours, making him almost collapse. They also forced him to lift his leg and hold it in the air for a long time, making him tremble and sweat. As a result of these abuses, his shoes were torn, and blisters emerged on his feet.
Practitioners Jiang Zonglin, Li Changli, Yu Kaixin, Wei Zhaihai, and Zhang Zhigang are currently suffering severe persecution in the sixth ward. The guards have been attempting to force Mr. Jiang to write the “three statements” for several months. He was persecuted until hospitalized in 2010. It is reported that he is still being tortured and is developing cataracts and other symptoms.
More Information about the Five Practitioners Currently Detained in the Sixth Ward
Mr. Jiang Zonglin, a former president of the Mingyuan Construction Research Institution in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, is in his 60s. He once suffered from chronic nephritis, migraines, neurasthenia, and other illnesses. However, after he practiced Falun Gong, all his illnesses disappeared. After he assumed the head position at his workplace, he turned the losses into profit.
After the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, Mr. Jiang has been detained in a brainwashing center, detention center, and forced labor camp. In 2007 he was arrested again. He and 10 other practitioners were tried in court. Eight lawyers from Beijing and Chengdu tried their best to defend the practitioners, requesting their release based on their innocence. However, the court didn't follow basic legal procedures and illegally sentenced these practitioners. (See the related article: “Deyang Prison Officials Deny Mr. Jiang Zonglin Family Visits Three Times”)
Mr. Li Changli was an engineer at the Liaoyuan Plant in Chengdu. His home was ransacked by police around midnight on April 29, 2008. Mr. Li and his wife, Li Lifen, were forced to go into hiding, leaving their five-year-old daughter, Li Weihong, with her grandparents. Li was later arrested and Longquanyi District Court illegally tried him on October 13, 2009. Mr. Li's defense attorney provided a defense for his client's innocence. However, without any legal basis, the court still sentenced Mr. Li to eight years of forced labor. (See the related article: “A Just Defense Moved the Court, But a Practitioner Is Still Illegally Sentenced (Photos)”)
Mr. Yu Kaixin is a retired teacher in his 60s. He used to have many diseases; however, they all disappeared after he began practicing Falun Gong, and he became significantly stronger. His children, relatives, and friends all respected him very much. He has been arrested many times and even brutally beaten because he refused to give up his belief. He was arrested by the Jinsha Police while clarifying the truth in December 2009, and then sentenced two-and-a-half years in prison. (See the related article: “Mr. Yu Kaixin and His Wife, Ms. Tan Shunbi, Face Sentencing”)
Mr. Wei Chaohai, who is 59, is from Jiangyou, Mianyang City. Officers from the Jiangyou Domestic Security Division illegally arrested him in September 2009 and then sentenced him. On the day of the trial, his lawyer from Beijing provided a defense for his innocence. (See the related article: “Court Keeps Practitioners' Family Members from Attending Hearing”)
Mr. Zhang Zhigang was born in 1971 and lives in Liuli Township, Jinjiang District, Chengdu City. He was sentenced to four years in prison at the end of 2001 and held in Deyang Prison. In June 2008, he was arrested once again in Dalin Township, Shuangliu County and then the Shuangliu Court sentenced him to four years in prison. His sister Zhang Aili was detained at a labor camp for one year and sentenced to three years in prison.
Many Practitioners Have Been Tortured to Death at Deyang Prison
The guards at Deyang Prison use a variety of means to torture Falun Gong practitioners. Their brutality is beyond imagination. Practitioners who were tortured to death include Shen Bing, Xiao Hongmo, Lin Deming, Li Jianhou, Cao Ping, Xiong Xiuyou, Li Zhengling, Wang Zengren, and others.
The persecution at the prison is broadly divided into two stages: the first phase focuses on the newly arrested practitioners, placing them under rigorous control. It also includes forcing them to run laps and to squat, to stand in a military posture, do goosesteps and undergo brainwashing. Then after the practitioners have been assigned to different wards, the guards use a variety of cruel means to force them to write the “three statements.” Meanwhile, they also force practitioners to do slave labor. The persecution means include: standing facing the wall, over exposure to the sun, over exposure to cold temperatures, standing in a military posture, squatting and standing as a punishment, forcing them to recite the prison regulations, forcing them to run for a long time in the sun, confinement and beatings in a solitary confinement cell, not allowing them to go to the toilet, etc.
According to an insider, the guards in the seventh ward instigated criminals to torture an elderly practitioner, pouring cold water over his body in winter. They did so all night, freezing the old man to death. The seventh ward head Xiong and guard Zhang Jian cannot shirk their responsibility for this man’s death.
Practitioners who are detained at Deyang Prison include:
Wei Wei (Shandong Province), Yang Shoumin (Nanxing Township, Guanghan City), Zhang Zhiping, Yang Hejiang (Suining City), Kuo Tinghe (Daying County), Qi Lin (Nanbu County), Wu Fengquan (Xindu County), Zhang Zhigang (Meishan City), Wei Zhaohai, Wei Bing (Jiangyou City), Li Changli, Deng Xiaoming (teacher of the Huayang Middle School in Chengdu), Liao Junfu (Xianzhang County), Liang Guanqing (Mianyang City), Dong Shaotai (Jiangjin District, Chongqing), and others.