“I
don't know if these materials will get into your hands. What I am going
to do is to restart the hunger strike… if I don't hear from you by 5pm
on 5/21/2003.” — Dr. Charles Li
|
SAN FRANCISCO (FDI)
— On June 4, 2003 Dr. Charles Li's fiancée received a document from the U.S. Consulate in
Shanghai that Dr. Li had written while handcuffed for 5 consecutive days in a Nanjing jail.
At
first, prison officials withheld eight pages of the document. Dr. Li then started a hunger strike to
insist that the information reach its destination. After over a week on hunger strike and enduring forced feeding, Dr.
Li remained determined to communicate with the outside world, and prison officials gave in.
Dr.
Li was imprisoned in China after being ushered through a “show trial” in March for
“preparing” to tap into Chinese state-run T.V. and broadcast programs exposing the persecution
of Falun Gong in China. (news)
The
actual charge Chinese authorities brought against Dr. Li, “Preparing to sabotage television and
radio broadcast equipment,” has allowed Chinese authorities to claim that Dr. Li's case is a
criminal case that has nothing to do with his practice of Falun Gong.
Chinese
authorities also maintain Dr. Li is being treated humanely, although they no longer permit U.S.
consulate officials to visit him at Nanjing prison.
The
document Dr. Li wrote, however, (excerpted below) discloses a very different story: he has been
resisting unjust and abusive treatment, including attempts to brainwash him and force him to abandon
his beliefs.
In
his “Letter from a Nanjing Jail,” Dr. Li explains in detail how his trial was politically
motivated from the very beginning, how his arrest and abuse is intricately linked to his being a
Falun Gong practitioner, and how Chinese officials have manipulated the charges and evidence in an
effort to convince the U.S. State Dept. that his imprisonment does not touch upon “freedom of
belief” issues. Dr. Li also explains that he is not guilty of the charges brought upon him, and
reveals disturbing details of physical and mental abuse of an American citizen in a Chinese jail.
Below
are excerpts from the documents forwarded by the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai. The “Letter”
consists of two different documents that Dr. Li wrote, an “Appeal Letter” and a summary he
titled “Supplementary Materials.” Dr. Li wrote them on 96 pages of small sheets of paper in
Chinese and English (approximately 21 single-spaced, word-processed pages when translated into
English). The complete letters go into much greater detail in substantiating Dr. Li's claims than
the excerpts below, which simply present his main arguments. Translations of both the “Appeal
Letter” and the “Supplementary Materials” are available from the Falun Dafa Information Center
upon request.
His
jailers at Nanjing Prison keep Dr. Li isolated from the outside world, from the representatives of
his government, and from his fiancée and family. Here is Dr. Li's testimony, with which he
managed to breakthrough the blockade put around him, by means of his courage and suffering alone.
***********************
A
Political Trial
Everything
the Chinese government has done to me since my illegal arrest on January 22, 2003 is illegal
persecution.
As
this case has developed, I have clarified the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong to those
dealing with my case, and I have developed good relationships with them. They have also
intentionally and unintentionally revealed information related to the decision-making in my case.
As
soon as I was detained at the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, I had caught their full attention. At one
time they thought of charging me with “accusations” related to broadcasting Falun Gong truth
materials. But they changed their mind when considering the fact that I have American citizenship
and that all “accusations” related to Falun Gong would necessarily involve the issue of freedom
of belief. They therefore considered pursuing these charges too difficult and decided to avoid any
“accusations” related to Falun Gong. Instead they used the accusation of the “sabotage of
radio and television equipment” in their charges against me.
When
they decided to use this accusation, they did not have any evidence to prove that I had committed
the crime. They did not know the technology involved or how to operate the interception equipment I
had bought in October. They only knew that the equipment could possibly have something to do with
clarifying the truth of Falun Gong. Nevertheless, on the 5th day of my arrest this year they
fabricated a verification of the use of this equipment to justify the charge. [Editor's note:
please see Charles Li's “Appeal Letter” where he denies actually broadcasting via cable TV]
One
learns from incidents like this, that the law in China is a tool to be used in the persecution
against Falun Gong. It has nothing to do with safeguarding justice.
As
a matter of fact, I was also told (by some people from the government) that the Central Government
is paying a lot of attention to my case. As a consequence, even the provincial public security
bureau would not dare to release me. The Central Government's close involvement was confirmed when
the state public security bureau directly sent people to participate in the case and to do so-called
investigations…
…they
tried not to connect my case to the Falun Gong issue and treated this completely as a criminal case
related to the “sabotage of Radio and television equipment.” The purpose was to cover up their
illegal persecution of Falun Gong, deprive Falun Gong practitioners' of their legal rights to
clarify the truth, and cover up their persecution of us. [“Supplementary Materials”]
Dr.
Li's Innocence
Yangzhou
People's Procuratorate charged me, in its indictment numbered (2003)4, with the following: in
order to serve the purpose of illegal program insertion, Li attempted to sabotage radio/television
facilities and to endanger public safety, and therefore violated the first section of Article 124 in
the Criminal Law of PRC, and prepared a so-called crime. [“Appeal Letter”]
I
did intend to utilize the cable TV in Yangzhou City last October to broadcast the truth of the
persecution of Falun Gong to the public. I have never denied this fact. However, such an act would
have the following legal characteristics:
The
act of clarifying the truth itself is protected by the Chinese Constitution and the Chinese criminal
law.
The
technology design and the operation methods used to clarify the truth using the cable TV does not
fit the condition of “sabotage” defined by the Criminal Law Act 124 (i.e. that the equipment's
normal function would be damaged. The prosecutor completely agreed with this point in the court
debate.).
Utilizing
the cable TV to clarify the truth cannot possibly cause damage to the public safety. On the
contrary, such use safeguards public safety.
That
is to say my intention of utilizing the cable TV to do a broadcast is totally different from
violating criminal law 124. Only if it is contrary to the above 3 characteristics or criteria can
the violation of criminal law item #124 exist. [Editor's note: please see Charles Li's appeal
where he denies broadcasting via cable TV]. [“Supplementary Materials”]
A
Rigged Trial
During
the court trial, the judges repeatedly deprived me of my right to present evidence and defend
myself. Examples are listed below:
False
evidence and false statements were given by Huujun Nin and Cui Yan [editor: witnesses for the
prosecution] about many important questions regarding the determination of the nature of the case.
Yet, the judge stopped me from raising related questions to clear things up.
He
also stopped me from questioning the prosecutor
He
also stopped me from presenting evidence of innocence.
He
also stopped me from defending myself by using the Chinese Constitution & Laws. [“Appeal”]
Brainwashing
and Abuse in Jail
1.
Serious violations of my freedom of belief
At
the earlier stage of my arrest, they used various means in an attempt to force me to give up Falun
Gong cultivation. During the three days February 10 to 12, I was forced to watch their propaganda
videos slandering Falun Gong and its founder.
They
used force to confiscate my book Zhuan Falun. I have asked them many times to return the book to me
but in vain. In addition, the American Consulate sent a copy, which was also confiscated.
They
have inhibited and restricted me from practicing Falun Gong, even though I have kept telling them
that practicing is extremely important in order for me to maintain my health.
2.
Physical punishment and abuse, beatings and torture
On
January 22, 2003, I was beaten up at the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport
After
my arrest on January 22, under the condition that I was on hunger strike, they didn't allow me to
sleep for 3 days and nights. A group of them took turns attacking me (in interrogation).
Since
9:15 pm on January 22, 2003, under the condition that I was on hunger strike, I was tortured with
handcuffs for over 72 hours. Most of the time, they handcuffed my hands behind my back and prevented
me from moving. Especially from 8 pm to 12 am on January 23, 2003 when they moved me from shanghai
Pudong to Yangzhou City, they handcuffed me behind my back and intentionally tightened the handcuffs
into my flesh. It was extremely painful. On Jan. 24, they grabbed my handcuffs and pulled them up
from my back, which caused devastating pain. The scars are still visible on my wrist.
At
the Yangzhou Detention Center, from 8 am on March 27 to 2:30 pm on April 2, they handcuffed me
consecutively for 130 hours. Those days were extremely hot, my winter clothes were smelly, and I
wasn't able to change them. Still I must hurry up to write 3 appeal letters with 96 pages.
At
the Nanjing jail, I was beaten up in the afternoon on May 12, 2003, and they shaved my hair with
force. I was handcuffed on an iron bed for 4 hours. On May 13, 2003, they used force to put a jail
uniform on me; and they handcuffed my hands behind my back for 5 hours.
[“Supplementary
Materials”]
“Those
criminals who have been persecuting Falun Gong, they are ones who should be indicted.” [“Appeal
Letter”]
Posting date: 19/June/2003
Original article date: 16/June/2003
Category: World News
