Ms. Xiao Silan from Jiahe County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province was sentenced to three years of forced labor on March 18, 2010 for refusing to give up her belief in Falun Gong. Local practitioner Mr. Guo Huisheng was arrested for phoning the police to rescue Ms. Xiao Silan. He was brutally beaten and died as a result of the severe injuries caused by the beating.

Ms. Xiao Silan Sentenced to Three Years of Forced Labor, Fellow Practitioner Beaten to Death for Requesting Her Release

Ms. Xiao sentenced to three years of imprisonment without trial

On July 6, 2009, Ms. Xiao Silan went to the neighboring Lanshan County in Yongzhou City and was arrested by the police. She was held at Lanshan County Detention Center where she suffered from a bone dislocation on her right hand as a result of being twisted by the prison guards. The officers from Lanshan County went to Ms. Xiao's home in Jiahe County and confiscated several Falun Gong books. After a detention of four and a half months in Lanshan County, the Court decided to put Ms. Xiao through an open trial on December 21. Since there were a lot of people attending the trial, Li Chengjie, the director of the 610 Office continued to call upon his superiors. His superiors then ordered him to cancel the trial.

On March 18, 2010, the Lanshan Court handed Ms. Xiao and her family a mandate of three years of forced labor. It was learned that Ms. Xiao's family is in the process of hiring a lawyer to appeal the verdict.

Xiao Silan was a retired employee of Xiangyun Company in Jiahe County. She went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in accordance with the law in February 2000. She was arrested and taken back to Jiahe by the local police. She was detained for 33 days before she was released. Altogether Ms. Xiao was arrested 7 times by either the 610 Office or the police departments of Jiahe and Lanshan counties. Besides being abducted to the Chenzhou City Brainwashing Center twice and the Baimalong Women's Forced Labor Camp, she was extorted for a total of 40,000 yuan.

At the end of last year, leaders from Xiangyun Company went to Ms. Xiao's home and forcefully took away her pension card.

Mr. Guo Huisheng dies after being detained and tortured for making phone calls to rescue Ms. Xiao

Mr. Guo Huisheng, also a practitioner, was an employee of the Legal Office of the County Government. When he learned that Ms. Xiao was arrested by the police he phoned Xi Xiaogang, the chief of Lanshan County Police Department, requesting the release of Ms. Xiao.

By order of the Hunan Provincial 610 Office, the police arrested Mr. Guo Huisheng and his wife on the night of August 6, 2009. Mr. Guo was brutally beaten by the political instructor of the Domestic Security Team, Hu Yonghui, and three other police officers. Mr. Guo was seriously injured and died on October 12 at the People's Hospital of Jiahe County.