(Minghui.org)
Summary of Key Persecution Facts:
Name: Zhao Wuhu (赵武虎)
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Civil Servant, Anxin County Office Supervising Section Chief
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 18, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jidong Prison (冀东监狱)
City: Tangshan
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Home ransacked, detention, interrogation, forced to leave home, illegal sentencing, sleep deprivation, brainwashing, torture
Mr. Zhao Wuhu, the Anxin County Office Supervising Section chief, was illegally sentenced to five years of imprisonment by Xiong County Court on October 21, 2010. He is currently being detained brutally persecuted in Jidong Prison.
Because he practices Falun Gong, Mr. Zhao was forced to leave home to avoid being persecuted by officers from the Anxin 610 Office and the Domestic Security Division. He has been homeless since July 22, 2008.
Officers from Anxin County and Xiong County Domestic Security Division went to each one of his relatives' homes searching for him, because they wanted to get a 50,000 yuan reward for finding him.
Mr. Zhao was arrested in Xiong County by officers from the Domestic Security Division and Chengguan Police Station on September 28, 2009. He was taken to the police station and tortured in the following days.
Interrogated at Xiong County Detention Center
At the police station, Mr. Zhao was interrogated by Yan, the head of Xiong County Police Department, who wanted to learn which Falun Gong related events he had participated in. He was mistreated and threatened with torture.
Mr. Zhao was taken to Xiong County Detention Center around 11:00 p.m. that night. Officers Guo Xuejun and Zhang Luping from Xiong County Domestic Security Division, plus about eight others, went to the detention center to continue tthe interrogation the next day. Mr. Zhao didn't cooperate with them. Instead, he explained the facts about Falun Gong to the officers.
Mr. Zhao was deprived of sleep for four days. Officers were divided into two shifts to watch him. As soon as he closed his eyes, he was awakened. After four days, Mr. Zhao felt very dizzy and lightheaded, and would throw up if he ate anything.
The police warned Mr. Zhao that if he didn't say anything, his wife would be arrested and detained.
Gao Peng, an officer from the Domestic Security Division, threatened Mr. Zhao, and told him that he would be tortured to death. Another officer, Zhang Baozhong, also said that he would torture him on the tiger bench and in other ways, or deprive him of sleep for a month.
Sentenced to Five Years
Xiong County Court tried Mr. Zhao on April 23, 2009.
Officers from Xiong County, the Anxin County Domestic Security Division, and the 610 Office arrived at the courthouse around 8:00 a.m., where more than ten police cars were parked in front of the building. Police in uniform as well as plainclothes officers were on guard at the intersections.
The courtroom was filled with government officials and staff from the 610 Office. Only two seats were left for Mr. Zhao's family members.
An inmate testified on Mr. Zhao's behalf about the persecution he was subjected to in the detention center. However, his testimony was withheld during the submission process by Han Junqing, head of the Xiong County Detention Center.
Mr. Zhao's attorney pled innocent for his client and argued his defense based on current Chinese law. He said that there was no law that says that Falun Gong is a cult and that everything that Falun Gong does is legal.
Prosecutor Su Guoqing asked that the defendant provide evidence showing that Falun Gong was not a cult. The defense attorney objected and said, "It is the prosecutor who needs to prove that Falun Gong is a cult. Mr. Su's request is groundless, and reflects his lack of basic knowledge of the law."
The evidence that Su presented was full of holes and conflicting points. When questioned, his explanation made no sense and wasn't based on the law.
The Xiong County Court sentenced Mr. Zhao to five years in prison on October 20, 2010. Mr. Zhao refused to plead guilty and refused to sign the sentencing notice. He decided that he would appeal the sentence. In the end, he was taken from Xiong County Detention Center to Jidong Prison.
Persecuted in Jidong Prison
When Mr. Zhao got to Jidong Prison, Yang, the head of the Education Division, along with prison guards Song Zhenjiang and Han Mu, went to talk to him to try to force him to “plead guilty.” Mr. Zhao refused again.
The police then used “shortening your term” as bait to entice Mr. Zhao to write a statement renouncing Falun Gong. Mr. Zhao refused to write anything, but instead explained the facts about Falun Gong to the prison guards.
Li Weijin, deputy head of the 9th Division, gave the order, and guards Qi Xinjiang and Zhang Chunxi found eleven inmates, who were divided into three shifts to monitor Mr. Zhao. He was forced to sit on a small stool for ten days and deprived of sleep for four to five days in an attempt to force him to write a guarantee statement.