The Chongqing City First Intermediate Court recently sentenced five Falun Gong practitioners to prison terms ranging from five to 14 years for exposing on the Internet the rape of a female graduate student at Chongqing University by the police.

The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFLG) confirmed that 28-year-old Wei Xingyan was arrested on May 11, 2003 and interrogated at the “6-10 Office” in Shapingba District. According to the human rights organization, the “6-10 Office” is a secretive extralegal bureau set up by former Chinese president Jiang Zemin to oversee his ban on the Falun Gong spiritual practice.

On the night on May 13, 2003, a policeman raped Wei in front of two female inmates at the Shapingba District Baihelin Detention Center. Wei told the policeman, “I remember your badge number. You won’t be able to get away with this.” She started a hunger strike to protest her treatment shortly after she was abused. As a result, detention center authorities force-fed her, causing serious injury to her trachea and esophagus. Unable to speak with her life in danger, Wei's whereabouts are unknown.

Chinese government-run Xinhua Net accused the five practitioners of fabricating the Wei Xingyan story. The five people are Chen Shumin, Yuan Qiuyan (female), Li Jian, Duan Yan (female), and Lu Zhengqi.

According to a reporter from the Falun Dafa Information Center, which tracks the persecution of Falun Gong around the world, a woman at the Chongqing City First Intermediate Court said of the five: “They publish things carelessly on the Internet, and have caused some really bad effects.”

Material provided by WOIPFG stated that staff from the Shapingba District Baihelin Detention Center confirmed that Wei was arrested by the Shapingba Police and sent to the detention center for practicing Falun Gong. A policeman from the detention center admitted that they force-fed Wei, and said that she was later “taken away by [police from] the Shapingba Station.” Further investigation showed that the policeman accused of the rape and other police who may have known about the incident were all transferred from the Baihelin Detention Center to Yongchuan Prison. Most of the police who participated in the arrest of Wei at the Shapingba 6-10 Office were also transferred out of the area.

WOIPFG reported that after the Wei case was exposed on the Internet, Chongqing University denied the existence of the electrical engineering major Wei was pursuing. On June 3, 2003, the Chongqing University Security Office and the Electrical Engineering Institute issued a joint announcement on the Chongqing University website, denying that there is a High-Voltage Direct Current Electricity Transfer major. On June 6, 2003, information on the Department of High Voltage and Insulation Technology was deleted from the Electrical Engineering website. However, the Graduate Student Enrollment Subject Directory downloaded on the same day from the Chongqing University website still included information on the High-Voltage Direct Current Electricity Transfer and Simulation Technology major under the Electrical Engineering Institute.

Last December, Zhang Siping, Vice President of Chongqing University, visited the United States. When asked if any of the students at the university were forced to drop out because of faith, Zhang said “Falun Gong is the exception.”

Article translated from the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times.