(Clearwisdom.net)

On July 12, 2003, Liu Dejun was tortured to death because he practiced Falun Gong. Afterwards, many versions of the cause of his death circulated. Some said he died in the enforced-education school; others said he died in the Panjin City Detention Center; some even claimed that he died in his home. Further reports all indicated that these stories originated from the mouths of the police.

Surprisingly, it was later learned that Mr. Liu was still doing well on July 11. At 9:00 a.m. that day, when the police from National Security Brigade took away Mr. Liu from Panjin Enforced Education School, he could still walk. Yet on the afternoon of the 12th he was reported dead. Mr. Liu's death was very suspicious. The police could not provide a consistent report of the location where the death occurred. The cause could be worse than just starvation.

In previous months, the police expressed their intent to kill Liu Dejun through torture. Early in mid-June, Mr. Liu suffered from poor health, and the police demanded 30,000 Yuan* for his release. Since last September, Mr. Liu had been denied his retirement pay, and his wife was unemployed. When he was arrested, the police confiscated the last of his family savings, about 10,000 Yuan. After enduring four years of persecution, his family ran out of money. Since the police could not extort any additional money, they did not mention the issue of release and money. Instead, they said they would severely sentence Mr. Liu.

When Mr. Liu was dying, the police interrogated him and told his family that he would not be released. The excuse they gave was that Mr. Liu had reported the head of the "610 Office,"** Wang Youshan, to the Minghui.org website, and for this Mr. Liu would be given a heavy sentence. In fact, Mr. Liu did write a persecution report exposing the Falun Gong persecution crimes committed by "610 Office" head Wang Youshan. But the Minghui website did not publicly post Mr. Liu's report. The police somehow had obtained the information. While the police's source of information remains unknown, this report could be the true reason why the police murdered Liu Dejun.

The detention center now admits that Mr. Liu died while in its custody, but the cause of death remains concealed.

* Yuan is the Chinese currency. The average monthly salary of an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan.

** "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Posting date: 9/14/2003
Original article date: 9/13/2003
Category: Eye Witness Accounts
Translated on 8/25/2003
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/8/25/56232.html

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