On May 19, 2006, six to seven police broke into my home and searched for the book ‘Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party’. They didn’t find the book they wanted but found several Falun Gong books. They put me in the detention centre in Haidian District, Beijing.
After two long years of imprisonment and Amnesty International campaigning, Chinese
prisoner of conscience Bu Dongwei was finally released on 18 July 2008. Bu Dongwei was serving time in a ‘re-education through labour’ facility for allegedly possessing Falun Gong materials. For fear of again be detained or harrassed in Olympic crackdowns, Amnesty International was unable to make public the news of his release until now.
Amnesty International considers Bu Dongwei to have been detained for peacefully exercising his fundamental human rights to freedom of expression and religious belief. The organisation considers him to be a prisoner of conscience and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
Amnesty International released a document on April 30, 2007 titled “People’s Republic of China, The Olympics countdown — repression of activists overshadows death penalty and media reforms”. The report pointed out that the Chinese government uses detention and labor camp sat will to eliminate dissidents, including Falun Gong practitioners. The report updated the case of Bu Dongwei.
Bu Dongwei, also known as David Bu, was assigned to two-and-a-half years’ “Re-education through Labour” (RTL) on 19 June in connection with his activities as a member of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. He is detained at an undisclosed location, and Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience. He is at serious risk of torture or ill-treatment.
