Notable Heilongjiang Human Rights Case: Four Out of Eleven Facing Illegal Sentence

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May 15, 2014 | By a Minghui correspondent in Heilongjiang Province, China

(Minghui.org) Four out of the eleven lawyers and citizens arrested for their efforts to rescue detainees and investigate the illegal practices at a black jail in Heilongjiang Province are still detained. Their detentions have been extended, and changed to criminal detentions. Jiansanjiang authorities are likely planning to sentence them to imprisonment.

The four prominent rights lawyers and seven Falun Gong practitioners were arrested on March 21, 2014 at the Green Tree Inn in the Jiansanjiang area of Heilongjiang, where they met to discuss plans to secure the release of the Falun Gong practitioners detained at Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center.

Due to international pressure, the lawyers were released in March and April. However, the following four Falun Gong practitioners are still detained: Wang Yanxin (王燕欣), Meng Fanli (孟繁荔), Shi Mengwen (石孟文), and Li Guifang (李桂芳).

Ms. Wang, Meng and Li have been transferred from Tongjiang Detention Center to Jiamusi Detention Center. Mr. Shi was transferred from Qixing Detention Center to Jiansanjiang Detention Center after the initial 15-day detention was over.

Photos of some Falun Gong practitioners arrested on March 21, 2014: clockwise from upper left corner: Chen Dongmei (陈冬梅), Meng Fanli (孟繁荔), Wang Yanxin (王燕欣), Shi Mengwen (石孟文), Ding Huijun (丁惠君) and Wu Dongsheng (吴东升).

Ms. Wang Yanxin

Ms. Wang Yanxin began working in the Jiamusi Department Store when she was 23. Rising through the ranks from a salesperson to sales manager, Ms. Wang does an excellent job with her work. After practicing Falun Gong, she conducted herself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and has been named an outstanding individual and model employee in the city and province for several consecutive years.

Many customers have developed trust in the department store because of her honest service. For years, many would often stop by her counter just to say hi. Please see the torture she previously suffered in this earlier report: Despite Suffering in Detention, Ms. Wang Yanxin Still Treats Others with Kindness .

The Heilongjiang Human Rights Case

The March 21 arrest occurred the day after the lawyers and families of detainees called out in front of Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center for releasing the lawyers' Falun Gong practitioners clients. Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center, officially known as the “Jiansanjiang Farm Legal Education Center,” is a local black jail (extralegal detention center).

This human rights case gained international attention as the lawyers were tortured during detention. Mr. Zhang Junjie, one of the four lawyers, suffered three fractures to his lower back as a result of severe beatings in detention.

The other three lawyers made public the torture they had experienced when they were released on April 6. According to a Human Rights Watch report, they were hung up, with wrists bound with a rope, arms twisted backwards and feet barely touching the ground. The police punched and kicked them in the chest, head, back, and legs.

Left to right: Lawyers Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), Zhang Junjie (张俊杰), Wang Cheng (王成) and Tang Jitian (唐吉田)