Korea: Chinese Spectators Shout “Falun Dafa Is Good” during Large Cultural Festival Parade (Photos)

October 08, 2013 | By a practitioner in Korea

(Minghui.org) The 50^th Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival—one of the largest culture and tourism festivals in Korea—took place from September 27 to October 1, 2013 in Suwon. The Citizen Parade held on September 28 was one of the highlights of the celebration.

The Falun Dafa Divine Land Marching Band and Falun Gong Exercise Demonstration Group were invited to take part in the parade. Tourists from inside and outside Korea lining both sides of the road were impressed by the orderly, magnificent formation of the marching band and the majestic music performed. They were also amazed at the practitioners’ peaceful and soothing exercise demonstration.

Falun Gong practitioners are warmly received in the parade

Spectators lining the parade route accept and read informational flyers from Falun Gong practitioners

Both sides of the road were packed with crowds of people. Wherever the Divine Land Marching Band went, spectators applauded and cheered. Shouts of “Falun Dafa is good” in Chinese could be heard from the crowd.

After the practitioners’ exercise demonstration group passed by, some spectators followed along, imitating their hand movements. Many more spectators accepted flyers from Falun Gong practitioners. In three hours, over 8,000 flyers were given out. Many spectators talked with practitioners and learned more about Falun Gong and the persecution in China.

Chinese version available

Category: Other Community Events

Mr. Li Yuejin from Beijing Died as a Result of Persecution

October 09, 2013 | By a Minghui correspondent from Beijing, China

(Minghui.org)

Summary of Key Persecution Facts:

Name: Li Yuejin (李跃进)
Gender: Male
Age: 53
Address: Shijingshan District, Beijing
Occupation : Employee of the Shijingshan Real Estate Development Co.
Date of Death: October 1, 2013
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 12, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xin’an Forced Labor Camp (新安劳教所)
City: Beijing
Persecution Suffered : Sleep deprivation, forced labor, illegal sentencing, forced injections/drug administration, beatings, imprisonment, fired from workplace, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Mr. Li Yuejin from the Shijingshan District in Beijing was illegally arrested for the fifth time on August 12, 2012. He was later sentenced to the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp. During his detention, he developed serious symptoms of a heart problem, and was then released on medical parole on April 3, 2013. Mr. Li died on the morning of October 1, 2013.

Mr. Li developed the symptoms of a heart problem after he was given an injection in the labor camp. It is suspected that he was purposely poisoned by the guards. Mr. Li had said before he died, “It is so evil there (referring to the labor camp), and they persecuted me like this.”

Mr. Li Yuejin began to practice Falun Gong in 1993, and was one of the volunteers in charge of a practice site in the Shijingshan District. He has been arrested many times since the Chinese regime initiated the persecution of Falun Gong. He was once arrested and taken to a notorious place called the Beijing Legal Training Center. He was sentenced four times to a forced labor camp, where he was brutally tortured. For example, he was forced to stay under the baking sun for a long time, which made him faint. Due to the long term persecution, he developed diabetes. He was fired from his company and lived a very difficult life.

Mr. Li wrote a letter to the director of the Beijing Police Department after he was released from where he was first sentenced to a labor camp. He told the director that persecuting Falun Gong practitioners was wrong. The director later decided to arrest him.

Mr. Li was arrested with practitioners Ms. Ma Kun and Ms. Wang Kunqi when they went to the Beijing Military Museum on March 5, 2005. That evening Mr. Li and Ms. Wang’s homes were ransacked, and Mr. Li’s electronic book and two Shen Yun DVDs were confiscated. Mr. Li was held at the Shijingshan Detention Center, and brutally beaten until he lost consciousness. He almost became blind in one eye as a result of the beating. One arm was severely injured after being twisted behind his back.

Mr. Li was later sent to a forced labor camp for the third time. At the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp, he was deprived of sleep for long periods of time. His vision was deteriorating and he developed heart problems. His legs developed the symptoms of Buerger’s disease.

Mr. Li was arrested at home by officers from the Mentougou Police Station and the Shijingshan Domestic Security Division on April 27, 2007. This was his fourth arrest. During his detention, his family was not allowed to see him.

Officers from the Beijing Police Department, Haidian Police Department and Xiangshan Police Station worked together to arrest Mr. Li on August 2, 2012. His cell phone, computer, travel card, MP4 player and satellite dish were confiscated. He was sentenced to two and a half years of forced labor and taken to the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp in Beijing. He was later transferred to the Xin’an Forced Labor Camp. In the labor camp, Mr. Li refused to write the three statements to renounce his belief. Instead, he clarified the truth to them. When he was persecuted to have the symptoms of a heart problem and diabetes, his family asked for his release on medical parole. Officials at the camp also wanted to get rid of him, but officer An Shengjun from the Bajiao Police Station, who was in charge of Mr. Li, didn’t agree.

Mr. Li was released on medical parole on April 3, 2013. Shortly after the hospital treatment, his blood vessels became coagulated and hard. Three major blood vessels which connect with his heart were blocked. He died on the morning of October 1, 2013.

Haidian Detention Center: +86-10-62400850

Chinese version available

Category: Deaths

Criminal Inmates Used to “Transform” Good People in Shandong Province Prison

October 09, 2013 | By a Minghui correspondent from Shandong Province, China

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners are detained in prisons, labor camps, and brainwashing centers. The CCP has tried to force these people to give up their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, to “transform.” The CCP uses criminal inmates to help them “transform” Falun Gong practitioners.

Falun Gong practitioners are held in Ward 11 of Shandong Province Prison. About 65 of the 200 detainees are practitioners. The rest are criminals.

Before 2013, there were no slave-labor jobs in Ward 11. Except for Falun Gong practitioners, all the other inmates got into Ward 11 by bribes or connections. It was said that a criminal had to pay at least 10,000 yuan to be assigned to Ward 11, and they also need to give gifts to the guards on holidays to be able to stay there.

The criminals in Ward 11 do not need to do slave labor. Their only “job” is to “transform” Falun Gong practitioners.

Then how do these criminals try to “transform” Falun Gong practitioners?

When a new practitioner first arrives in the ward, several criminals take him off to a room. They claim that they do this on behalf of the government and need to know the practitioner’s thoughts and family situation. Their goal, however, is to make the practitioner write statements giving up his belief in Falun Gong.

The prison has a textbook on how to “transform” practitioners. The criminals play different roles. Some act friendly to get the practitioners to write those statements. When a practitioner is not deceived, violence is used. Prisoner Xing Xuechao said, “Do you think I look like a bad person? I am a bad person. I can do all kinds of bad things.”

The prisoners light themselves cigarettes and start to curse and humiliate the practitioners.

At night, if practitioners still refuse to write guarantee statements renouncing Falun Gong, they are not allowed to sleep. After all the other prisoners go to sleep at 10 p.m., they start beating practitioners brutally in a separate room. Once a practitioner from Qingdao City reported to guard Chen Yan that someone beat him. Chen Yan replied, “No one beat you. You were hallucinating.”

The guards themselves never directly “transform” practitioners. They only check “results.” Only other prisoners torture practitioners.

The guards give the criminals their approval, while those innocent believers in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, who were jailed just for exposing the persecution, are slandered as criminals.

These prisoners used to be called “baojia,” meaning “collaborators.” Now they are called “’transformation’ volunteers.” No matter what kind of approach they use, as long as they can get Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief, the guards reward them and even reduce their terms. A “credit” can take half a year off a prison term; a “recognition” can reduce the term by three months; a “point” can reduce it by four and half days. The guards also improved these prisoners’ meals by allowing them to use electric stoves to prepare instant noodles, etc. These approaches were used as incentives to get these criminals to brutally persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

There are three floors in the Ward 11 building. The third floor is for practitioners who are already “transformed.” The fourth floor is for those who refuse to be “transformed.”.The fifth floor is for Strict Control, which is also called “individual education.” Each cell on the fifth floor held only one practitioner. The torture methods used there include physical abuse and deprivation of sleep and food.

Inmate Sun Tao, who was found guilty of financial crimes, poured ice cold water on practitioners in the wintertime. Practitioner Mr. Zheng Xiaoqiang was persecuted for nearly 11 months. He passed out several times, and he was covered with injuries. The criminals broke the leg of practitioner Mr. Wang Xinzhong from Huimin City. Practitioner Mr. Wang Zi from Laiwu was beaten so severely that his shirt was soaked with blood. These are the results of “individual education.” Sometimes prisoners shouted, “If you do not obey me, I will take you to the fifth floor and kill you!”

Ward Director Li Wei claimed in meetings: “No one can beat or curse Falun Gong.” But the reality the guards ordered the inmates to carry out the torture.

Practitioners had to get up on time every day. At daybreak, they had to sit on small stools for so-called “classes.” Although the prison rule required everyone to get up at 6 a.m., these “’transformation’ volunteers” could sleep until 8 or 9. Practitioners were monitored all the time. They were not allowed to visit or talk to each other if they were from different groups. There is no “education” in Ward 11, just torture.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution