Village Unites to Demand Release of Upstanding Citizen Facing Illegal Trial

[Editor’s note: On June 17, 2011, dozens of villagers signed a petition to the government of Jilin city urging the release of a fellow villager who had been detained for practicing Falun Gong. On March 4, 2011, police abducted 59-year-old Mr. Liu Zhichen (???), from Fengman village in Jilin city and took him to the city’s No. 3 Detention Center. When his neighbors learned that the Fengman District Court had planned to hold a “trial” on wrongful charges for Liu, they united to co-sign a petition to the authorities in protest. The following is a translation of the text of the letter. As shown in the image below, the end of the letter is accompanied by dozens of signatures along with thumb prints in red ink by each signatory.]

“Mr. Liu Zhichen began practicing Falun Gong in 1998. He had suffered from heart disease, stomach problems, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, but all his illnesses disappeared as a result of his Falun Gong practice. Mr. Liu has been cultivating himself to be a moral person by following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Whatever he has done, he has always thought about others first. It is well-known that he is a good person. He has been helping his fellow villagers all of these years.

For example, Mr. Liu helped save others’ lives instead of his property during the flood in Jilin in 2010. The flood arrived at Wangqi Town and destroyed many houses, including Mr. Liu’s. Rather than trying to look for his belongings in the flood, Mr. Liu focused on helping and rescuing others, including 82-year-old Mr. Cui Zhenxing, the elderly Ms. Li, and four people of Mr. Yin Aimin’s family.

For years, Mr. Liu volunteered to fix the road between Fengman Village and Dashi Village.

Doing construction out of town, Mr. Liu worked very hard, took responsibility for his job, and never complained. His company recognized him and praised him. Now his company is waiting for him to go back to work. The head from the company said, ‘We want Liu Zhichen to work for us, no one else.’

Officials from the local township government once said to Mr. Liu, ‘If you did not practice Falun Gong, you would not have such high moral standards.’

The villagers hope that officials from the Jilin City government will help get Mr. Liu released.

June 17, 2011″