Mr. Zeng Zhizhong, 35, a resident of Lianyuan City, Hunan Province. Mr. Zeng Zhizhong was a mathematics teacher in a middle school in Lianyuan, Hunan Province.

In November 2000, Mr. Zeng was arrested on his way to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. He was escorted back to Lianyuan and detained for over 70 days. His salary was cut for almost a year as a punishment. Because his wife is also a Falun Gong practitioner, her salary was stopped as well. She is a teacher in the same school. As a result, the couple was deprived of over ten thousand Yuan of income.

In late 2004, Mr. Zeng clarified the facts about Falun Gong to his students; however, Guo Qixiang, a director of the school, reported his action to the police. On November 30, 2004, the local police went to Mr. Zeng’s school and arrested him.

Mr. Zeng’s mother-in-law went to the police substation to point out that the arrest was illegal. The director of the police substation pushed her to the ground, causing her hand to break during the fall. Mr. Zeng’s father-in-law then went to the police to argue with them. One policeman held the elder gentleman’s hair and violently dragged him towards the stairs. He then struck his head against an iron pole while kicking his head and face. The poor man was bleeding and his face and limbs were swollen from the beatings. He was locked in a room and the next day he was sent to the detention center for 10 days.

Mr. Zeng’s family was then fined 200 Yuan. The authorities also broke into his home and took away his belongings. Moreover, they closed down the snack shop that Mr. Zeng’s mother and mother-in-law owned. They spread the slanderous rumor that Falun Gong practitioners give poison to children.

Mr. Zeng has been detained since then. His wife went to the local “610 Office” and to the police station many times to ask for his release but was turned down. The Lianyuan court was to place Mr. Zeng on trial on April 12, 2005. No further information about Mr. Zeng is available at this time.

Type = Case, Arbitrary Detention; Type = Case,Religious Intolerance; Location = Hunan