Mr. Fu Ziming, Fujian

Name: Mr. Fu Ziming (???)
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 17, 2009
Date of Death: April 19, 2009
Province: Fujian
City: Wuyishan City
Most Recent Place of Detention: Wuyi Police Department

Case details:

Mr. Fu Ziming (???) died in custody on April 19, two days after being detained by police in the vicinity of Wuyi Mountain Scenic Area of Fujian Province, a popular tourist destination in southeast China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fu had traveled to the area as part of a group from the post office where he worked in his hometown of Jianli County in Hubei Province. 

On April 17, while visiting the Mt. Wuyi area, Fu wrote in crayon on a rock “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” With Falun Gong being a permanent taboo in China’s tightly controlled media environment, it is a common phenomenon for adherents to counter dehumanizing party propaganda by writing such expressions on a wall, banner, or homemade poster. 

Fu’s actions were apparently recorded by a nearby surveillance camera and that evening, he was taken from his hotel by agents from the management department of the local police station operating under Wuyi Police Department. Two days later, he had died, reportedly from torture. 

Since his death, security agencies – including the Public Security Bureau and the extra-legal 610 Office – in both Wuyi and Jianli have taken measures to cover-up the incident. According to recent media reports and interviews with people close to the case, the authorities have denied his death or sought to portray it as the result of a train accident (report). 

One person at the police station in Jianli admitted briefly to a reporter that Fu’s corpse was in police custody. However, the individual hung up when probed about further details regarding the case, particularly about Fu’s family (report).