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| ==Arrest and death== | ==Arrest and death== | ||
| On 26 January 2008, Yu Zhou and his wife Xu Na were pulled over by police for ] while driving home from a concert in Beijing.<ref name=Crusade>{{cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Andrew|title=China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/world/asia/28china.html?_r=0|accessdate=8 January 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 April 2009}}</ref> Police found Falun Gong literature and a CD in the car, and took the couple into custody,<ref name=Olympic/><ref name=Crusade/> where ten days later, on 6 February, Yu Zhou died. His family was called to the Qinghe district emergency center to claim his body.<ref name=Olympic/> The medical center and authorities told his family that he had staged a ] and died from ] or some other ] complication.<ref name=AP/><ref name="AI"/> Yu Zhou's family said that he did not have diabetes and was healthy at the time of arrest. They maintained that his death was a result of abuse in custody.<ref name=Crusade/><ref name=AI |
On 26 January 2008, Yu Zhou and his wife Xu Na were pulled over by police for ] while driving home from a concert in Beijing.<ref name=Crusade>{{cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Andrew|title=China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/world/asia/28china.html?_r=0|accessdate=8 January 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=27 April 2009}}</ref> Police found Falun Gong literature and a CD in the car, and took the couple into custody,<ref name=Olympic/><ref name=Crusade/> where ten days later, on 6 February, Yu Zhou died. His family was called to the Qinghe district emergency center to claim his body.<ref name=Olympic/> The medical center and authorities told his family that he had staged a ] and died from ] or some other ] complication.<ref name=AP/><ref name="AI"/> Yu Zhou's family said that he did not have diabetes and was healthy at the time of arrest. They maintained that his death was a result of abuse in custody.<ref name=Crusade/><ref name=AI/> His sister, Yu Qun, told the ''New York Times'': “I don’t understand why this happened to them because they didn’t do anything to break the law and they weren't promoting the group.”<ref name=Crusade/> | ||
| ===Aftermath=== | ===Aftermath=== | ||
Revision as of 04:04, 4 July 2014
Yu Zhou (simplified Chinese: 于宙; traditional Chinese: 於宙; pinyin: Yú Zhòu) was a Chinese folk musician and Falun Gong practitioner who died in police custody in February 2008, at the age of 42. Ten days before his death, traffic police stopped the professional musician in Beijing, allegedly for speeding on the way home from a concert. After they found Falun Gong paraphernalia in his car, authorities detained Yu. His wife Xu Na, who had previously been imprisoned for her practicing Falun Gong, was also taken into custody.
According to authorities, Yu Zhou's condition in custody deteriorated as a result of a hunger strike or a complication stemming from diabetes. His family said he did not have diabetes, and instead contends that he was killed as a result of mistreatment in custody. Yu Zhou's lawyer said they believe he may have been beaten to death, but because authorities refused to permit an autopsy, evidence could not be collected.
Yu Zhou's death was cited by international press and advocacy groups as evidence of the Chinese government's continued suppression of Falun Gong. It was also noted an example of the government's efforts to suppress domestic opposition groups immediately preceding the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing.
Background
Yu Zhou was a graduate of the Beijing University, where he studied French language. He performed in a folk music ensemble called Xiao Juan and Residents From the Valley, which released two successful albums and was featured in the Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television. He was married to Xu Na (simplified Chinese: 许那; traditional Chinese: 許那; pinyin: Xǔ Nà), a poet and painter two years his younger. The two were described by the Associated Press as living "a Bohemian existence" in Beijing.
In the mid-1990s, the couple began practicing Falun Gong, a Buddhist qigong discipline. Yu's wife was imprisoned from 2001 to 2006 for her association with Falun Gong.
Arrest and death
On 26 January 2008, Yu Zhou and his wife Xu Na were pulled over by police for speeding while driving home from a concert in Beijing. Police found Falun Gong literature and a CD in the car, and took the couple into custody, where ten days later, on 6 February, Yu Zhou died. His family was called to the Qinghe district emergency center to claim his body. The medical center and authorities told his family that he had staged a hunger strike and died from dehydration or some other diabetic complication. Yu Zhou's family said that he did not have diabetes and was healthy at the time of arrest. They maintained that his death was a result of abuse in custody. His sister, Yu Qun, told the New York Times: “I don’t understand why this happened to them because they didn’t do anything to break the law and they weren't promoting the group.”
Aftermath
Over a year later, Yu Zhou's family reported that police and prosecutors continued to deny requests for a death certificate or an autopsy. Cheng Hai, a Beijing human rights lawyer, said "there are suspicions that he was beaten to death while in prison, but so far we have been unable to collect any evidence." In a 2008 interview with Agence France-Presse, the Tongzhou detention center where Cheng said Yu Zhou was held denied any knowledge of him.
Yu Zhou's wife, Xu Na, was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2008. According to her lawyer, she was convicted of possessing and intending to distribute 53 documents and eight computer disks of Falun Gong publications. Amnesty International described her as being at risk of torture and ill-treatment in detention.
Reaction
Yu Zhou's death received international media attention. The New York Times cited it as evidence of the Chinese government's continued campaign against Falun Gong ten years after the official crackdown. The Associated Press similarly wrote about Yu Zhou's story as an example of "the human toll behind China's decade-long campaign to wipe out Falun Gong." The Sunday Times reported on the case as an example of increased state pressure against domestic opposition groups ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Yu was one of approximately 100 Falun Gong practitioners reported to have died in custody in 2008. Christie Blatchford of the Globe and Mail briefly noted Yu's case in her wider story, traveling to the emergency medical center where a Falun Gong website believes that his body was being held.
The case was also named in reports by the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Freedom House.
Chinese official media did not make any public comments on or otherwise report the story. However, fans of Yu Zhou's music mourned his death online. One supporter wrote on a Chinese website: "Fuck authority. Another beautiful soul has left the world."
See also
References
- ^ Sheridan, Michael (20 April 2008). "Yu Zhou dies as China launches pre-Olympic Purge of Falun Gong". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ^ Jacobs, Andrew (27 April 2009). "China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ^ Olesen, Alexa (24 April 2009). "Spiritual group endures despite 10-year ban". The Associated Press.
- "Mr. Yu Zhou". Falun Dafa Information Center. 3 August 2008.
- ^ "Amnesty International Report 2009: China". Amnesty International. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ^ "China sentences Falungong follower to three years in jail: lawyer". Agence France-Presse. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- Blatchford, Christie (7 August 2008). "Chinese turn a blind eye to facts under their noses". The Globe and Mail.
- U.S. Department of State, (26 October 2009) International Religious Freedom Report 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- United States Department of State (25 February 2008). 2008 Human Rights Report. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- "Annual Report 2008" (PDF). Congressional Executive Commission on China. p. 88. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- Freedom House (2009). Anniversary highlights rise in religious persecution in China. Retrieved 8 January 2013.