(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Qu Yanlai, 28 years old, was born in Hulan County, Heilongjiang Province. He won first place and the top prize in the National Olympic Chemistry Contest and the gold medal in the Chinese National Olympic Math Contest. He is a graduate of the Energy Engineering Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Because he persisted in practicing Falun Dafa, Mr. Qu was abducted late at night on September 30, 2002 by perpetrators from the Taopu Police Station in Shanghai. He was sentenced to five years in prison and was held at Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai. Mr. Qu, who was originally 1.8m tall (about 6 feet) and weighed over 70 kilos (about 154 lbs.), was tortured so severely during his incarceration that he has now become bed-ridden and can no longer take care of himself. In order to protest the persecution, Qu Yanlai held a hunger strike for over 690 days. He began to eat after his father talked to him on May 20, 2004.

Below is an appeal statement from Qu Yanlai's mother, Zhao Rongjie, in which she demands her son's release, public restoration of his reputation and financial compensation according to the law; she also demands that the work units and individuals responsible for the persecution of her son be brought to justice.

Appeal statement:

Appellant: Zhao Rongjie, mother of Qu Yanlai, was born in February 1948 and is a retired official from Daqing Petrochemical Complex. Address: Changqian D4#-3-502, Longfeng District, Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province.

Zhao Rongjie appeals against the No. 324 criminal verdict passed at Putuo District People's Court (in 2003) in Shanghai.

Requests:

1. According to the law, revoke No. 324 criminal verdict passed at Putuo District People's Court in 2003
2. According to the law, publicly restore Qu Yanlai's reputation and compensate him for financial losses.
3. According to the law, prosecute related work unit and individuals for their participation in the persecution.

Facts:

Qu Yanlai, 28 years old, was born in Hulan County, Heilongjiang Province. He graduated from the Energy Engineering Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2000. He had always been a bright student with a high moral character. He began to practice Falun Gong after July 20, 1999 and conducted himself according to the principles of Truth- Compassion-Tolerance. During his study at the university, he took upon himself the responsibility of cleaning the dormitory, which he shared with other students. He was very caring toward his classmates and voluntarily donated blood for his classmate. He lived very simply and gave all the money he saved (4,000 yuan) (1) as well as clothes and bedding to financially underprivileged classmates. His classmates loved him. One friend wrote in his yearbook: "It's hard to find a good person like you in this world!" No matter where he went, everyone around him always said he was a wonderful person. He always thought of others, even in small matters, and from him people could truly feel the wonders, the peacefulness and harmony that Dafa and Truth-Compassion-Tolerance had brought to society.

However, such an outstanding graduate from a well-known university was deprived of all his human rights simply because he believes in Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. He has been holding a hunger strike for two years now at Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai, where he was tortured severely during his imprisonment. When it was difficult for us to visit him, the guards even withheld letters from his parents.

The following is the whole story of this tragedy:

At midnight on September 30, 2002, perpetrators from the Taopu Police Station in Shanghai abducted Qu Yanlai. They sent him to the Putuo Police Department in Shanghai and held him under criminal detention on October 2. We didn't receive any notice about this. He was officially under arrest on November 2, about which we did not receive any notice, either. In June 2003, the Putuo District People's Court held a public trial of Qu Yanlai on "charges that he used [slanderous words omitted] to obstruct the implementation of the law." We were not even notified of the trial, let alone the hearing in court. All this time, we didn't hear anything about our son and were extremely anxious about his well-being. We could not sleep and spent nearly 100,000 yuan looking for him but did not find him.

On July 2, 2003 we finally received a verdict statement from the Putuo District People's Court and learned that Qu Yanlai was sentenced to five years in prison. Nobody told us where he was held. So in August 2003, I went to Shanghai, despite the summer heat, to find out where my son was. I phoned the Putuo District People's Court and asked about my son. The examiner of my son's case, Tang Min said, "How dare you call us? We'll monitor you and arrest you! Qu Yanlai went to his hometown!" If I had not heard it myself, I would not have believed a court examiner could have threatened me with arrest and the rest of it. Who has given her this power! I went to the court and Tang Min said with a long face, "He is held at the Putuo District Detention Center. Don't come and ask me again!" I went to the Putuo District Detention Center and a guard said, "He is held in the Qingpu Prison." I then took a taxicab to the Qingpu Prison and waited for a long time, but the entrance guard said, "There is no such person here."

I called the Putuo District Detention Center again, and they still told me that my son was held at the Qingpu Prison. I felt as if my world had fallen apart. Why were the people at the court and the detention center concealing the whereabouts of my son? Why were they so afraid of us knowing where he was? What had happened? As a mother, my heart ached as if it had been stabbed with a knife. I wanted to cry, yet I had no tears left. My son was arrested and sentenced without any legitimate reason. Now they even deprived me, his mother, of the right to know where he was. I'm an over-60-year-old woman from the Northeast, and yet the so-called "People's Judge" and the "People's Police" sent me running here and there. Where could I find my son?

Out of frustration, I returned to Putuo District and again called the Putuo District People's Court. This time Chief Judge Xu Jiaqi answered the phone and he said, "He's at Tilanqiao Prison." I went to Tilanqiao Prison and finally saw my son after one whole year. We embraced and cried and even the police officers on duty shed tears.

I learned then that Qu Yanlai had been holding a hunger strike to uphold his belief and human rights, and he was being force-fed. The guards at the detention center dragged him from the fourth floor to the first floor, and then dragged him from the first floor back up to the fourth floor. They also dragged him around on the cement floor. When he was extremely weak they (I'm not sure whether "they" are guards or inmates) beat him severely. During the time he was held at the Putuo District Detention Center earlier, Qu Yanlai had acute gastric bleeding due to the brutal force-feeding and was hospitalized for four months. Right now he is being hospitalized for the fourth time for gastric bleeding. The first three times we, his family, were never notified. We were notified the fourth time, and the reason we were notified was that they wanted us to write to him to persuade him to eat. My sons was originally 1.8m tall and weighed over 70 kilos, but now he had become so weak that he could not even sit up. He could only lie in bed and was unable to take care of himself. Anyone who saw his miserable condition would feel heartbroken.

In the spring of 2004, Liu, the head of Division Five at Tilanqiao Prison called me and said my son's stomach was bleeding for the fourth time and he was in critical condition. They told us to constantly write to my son, persuading him to eat. However, the letter I wrote to my son on June 29, 2004 was withheld. We asked for medical parole but the prison authorities said Qu Yanlai's gastric bleeding resulted from his hunger strike and he therefore could not be granted medical parole.

I would ask them: Who had caused Qu Yanlai to hold a hunger strike in the first place? Who deprived him of all his human rights, including freedom of belief? Before his arrest he had lived a healthy life for 28 years and never held a hunger strike. But up until now, Qu Yanlai has been on a hunger strike for over 690 days (unheard of in human history).

On May 20, 2004, Qu Yanlai's father went to visit his son and asked him to eat. Qu Yanlai decided to eat and tried to do the Dafa exercises to recover his health. Yet, Division head Ou stopped him from doing the exercises, saying it's against the law. In order to uphold his rights, Qu Yanlai resumed the hunger strike. He was holding a hunger strike to uphold his belief when all of his other human rights were taken away from him. He suffered beyond imagination to awaken people who are infused with lies, and to tell people that it is not a crime to believe in Truth-Compassion-Tolerance! My son was stopping the violation of human rights and the persecution of belief and human rights with his precious young life.

As his mother, I constantly worry about my son's life and safety and cannot eat or sleep well. As his mother, I know my son is innocent. Legally, we can also prove Qu Yanlai is innocent.

1. Qu Yanlai's belief in Falun Gong is protected by Article 36 of the Constitution of China. Falun Gong has taught him to become a person with a brand new outlook on life and to be a person with good health and lofty morality, a person who always thinks of others. What crime has he committed by being a good person?

2. No. 324 criminal verdict at the Putuo District People's Court in Shanghai in 2003 states that Qu Yanlai was sentenced to five years in prison for editing Falun Gong materials downloaded by Chen Mingliang from Minghui.net [the Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net]. Qu Yanlai's action is protected by Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution. The evidence listed in the verdict statement is not legally valid, and in fact his actions are all in line with the constitutional rights Qu Yanlai is entitled to.

Since July 20, 1999, Falun Gong has suffered persecution and the people of China were deprived of their right to know the truth, as TV stations and newspapers and all other media bombarded them with materials that slander Falun Gong. Under these severe circumstances, Falun Gong practitioners kindly clarified the facts to people. They didn't hurt anyone, but helped the deceived people see the harm this persecution has caused them, and they awakened people's conscience. What crime is it for doing so?

3. Qu Yanlai held a hunger strike to protest the persecution, to resist and stop this persecution of human rights and freedom of belief. In fact, his action was upholding the integrity of the constitution. At the moment, he is in extremely poor health and his life is in danger. Isn't his critical condition enough to arouse some concern from the authorities?

4. Falun Gong is not an [slanderous words omitted], and Qu Yanlai is innocent!

Article Three in the Chinese Constitution clearly stipulates: "For acts that are explicitly defined as being criminal by law, the offenders shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the law; otherwise, they shall not be convicted or punished." Up until now, the National People's Congress and NPC standing committee have not created any laws to punish Falun Gong practitioners. There is only a decision published on October 30, 1999 -- "The Decision on Banning Heretical Cult Organizations, Preventing and Punishing Cult Activities". Looking at its formulation, the "Decision" is a legislative action by a legislative agency; looking at its content, this is only about identifying and punishing "evil cults". It does not acknowledge or determine Falun Gong to be such a group, nor does it stipulate any punishment for Falun Gong practitioners. Article 300 of the Criminal Law of China states, "Whoever organizes and utilizes superstitious sects, secret societies, and evil religious organizations or sabotages the implementation of the state's laws and executive regulations by utilizing superstition is to be sentenced to not less than three years and not more than seven years of fixed-term imprisonment. For serious offenders, the sentence can be longer than seven years." It does not include the sentencing of Falun Gong practitioners. Both two articles above contain the concept of "evil cults" as well as the identification and punishment of an evil cult. However, what is an evil cult? What standard do we use to identify an evil cult? Which government agency determines if a social or civil organization is an evil cult? What legal procedure do we follow in identifying an evil cult?

The National People's Congress is the highest institution of power in China. It has the right to create, amend and repeal laws according to the constitution. Up until now, the National People's Congress and the NPC Standing Committee have not acknowledged or determined Falun Gong to be a [slanderous words omitted] according to legal procedures. If that is the case, in a legal sense, Falun Gong is not an evil religious organization. Therefore, the arrest, conviction and sentencing of Qu Yanlai have no legal ground. Therefore, the people involved in the persecution of Qu Yanlai from the Taopu Police Station, the Putuo District Police Department in Shanghai, the Putuo District Detention Center, the Putuo District People's Prosecutor, the Putuo District People's Court and Tilanqiao Prison have all violated the Constitution of China and they must take legal responsibility for their actions.

5. During Qu Yanlai's arrest, sentencing and detention, the police department, the detention center, the court, the public prosecutor and the prison all violated the legal procedures to be followed as stated in the Criminal Procedure Law. They have turned the laws enacted by the state into an empty sheet of paper.

We are legal, law-abiding citizens of the People's Republic of China, and we appeal according to Article 41 of the Constitution. We solemnly demand that Qu Yanlai's sentence be revoked and Qu Yanlai be released as innocent, publicly restore his good name and compensate us for our financial loss, and prosecute related work units and individuals and hold them legally responsible.

To:

Supreme People's Court
Supreme People's Prosecutor
Shanghai People's Prosecutor
Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court
Putuo District People's Prosecutor in Shanghai
Appellant: Zhao Rongjie

On August 10, 2004

(1) Yuan: the unit of Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.

Posting date: 9/6/2004
Original article date: 9/5/2004
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Translated on 8/23/2004
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/8/16/81892.html

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