(Minghui.org) Mr. Yang Zhaojun (杨昭俊), 53, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on falsified charges, which he later learned were an extension of the Chinese authorities' persecution of his father. His father had previously been imprisoned for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline brutally suppressed by the communist regime since 1999.
A division head from the Xi'an "610 Office" bragged to Mr. Yang's parents, “Your son's case is in now the hands of the 610 Office.”
The 610 Office is an extralegal agency established by the Communist Party leadership in 1999 to round up and “transform” Falun Gong practitioners or force them to renounce their faith, often through torture. The agency has the power to override China's police forces and courts in carrying out this task.
In the case of Mr. Yang's father, the 610 Office is targeting not only practitioners but also their family members.
Mr. Yang, who has served eight years of his term and is still in prison, filed a criminal complaint against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin with the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate on September 26, 2015. He charged Jiang with initiating the violent suppression of Falun Gong and holds him responsible for the tremendous suffering inflicted by his campaign.
Key Evidence Suppressed in Trial
Mr. Yang was contracted by Xi'an University of Science and Technology in early 2002 to revive and manage its subsidiary, the Mechanic and Electric Factory. The contract gave him the sole legal right and responsibility to manage the company and financially support all of its employees without reporting to or paying dividends to the university.
Within three years under his leadership, the company turned losses into profits. Mr. Yang donated a surplus of 6.45 million yuan to the university, although not contractually required to do so. He became widely known and was recognized with formal accolades by the university for four years in a row.
To meet its quota for the third quarter of 2007, the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Xi'an City Procuratorate charged Mr. Yang with embezzlement in late September 2007. Within a week, he was arrested and indicted, and his company properties were confiscated.
Mr. Yang was interrogated for two days in a row, 10 hours each day. When he refused to sign a contrived confession and plea document, officers threatened to harm his parents, who were already being targeted because they practiced Falun Gong. The authorities also threatened his father, lawyer, and employees who testified to his innocence. The company accountant was forced by the authorities to forge documents as evidence against him.
Mr. Yang was tried in June 2008 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on August 20 of that year. The Shanxi Province Supreme People's Court denied his appeal and upheld the original verdict and sentence on December 23, 2009.
Three years into Mr. Yang's prison term, his father found in the university archives office three key pieces of evidence, which were originally provided by university personnel in his defense but were suppressed by prosecutors. His father has appealed on his son's behalf to different government offices but has never received a response. His father also filed an appeal with the Supreme People's Court in July 2010.
Family Targeted for Practicing Falun Gong
Mr. Yang's father, Mr. Yang Hengqing, was the vice president of Xi'an University of Science and Technology. His mother, Ms. Long Aiqin, is a retired university employee. After the couple started practicing Falun Gong in 1997, they recovered from hypertension, heart disease, gastritis, and gallbladder inflammation.
After Jiang Zemin launched the campaign against Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Yang, senior, was singled out as the highest government official in Shanxi Province who practiced Falun Gong. He was sentenced in 2002 to seven years in prison, as ordered by the 610 Office. His sister-in-law was also sentenced to four years in prison. His mother was arrested and forced to undergo brainwashing.
The younger Mr. Yang went to the Xi'an City 610 Office multiple times to appeal for his father's release. After a year, his father was released on bail. Ever since, his family has been under constant surveillance and harassment by the authorities.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the 610 Office, on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
