Zhe Jiang Beggar Murder Case II

On June 26 2003, a series of murder cases of beggars using poison were reported in Cangnan Town, Wenzhou, Zhejiang. After the media covered that the high-ranking officials including the Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang and the provincial officials in Zhejiang issued guidelines to the cases, on July 2, Xinhua News Agency carried an article by Lu Jin, claiming that the case had been solved and the "alleged suspect is a Falun Gong follower." On Dec 30, 2003, the Intermediate Court in Wenzhou sentenced the suspect, Chen Fuzhao to death. WOIPFG opened this case on July 2, 2003, and released the initial findings on July 5th (/sites/default/files/201709/record/2004/08/90-beggarmurder.pdf), which revealed that the high ranking officials in the Public Security Ministry and the Xinhua News Agency were likely involved in this case in an effort to frame Falun Gong and justify the persecution. As a result of the investigation in the past 6 months, WOIPFG has obtained further information and will publish the findings in phases.

Family members: "(We) brought him to see a doctor in a psychiatric hospital prior to the case." In the middle of July 2003, not long after the case was first reported, WOIPFG contacted Chen Xibao, Chen Fuzhao's father. He said that Chen Fuzhao and his wife Yu Xiaoling lived with his parents. They just had a baby two months ago. After the incident, Yu returned to her parent's place with the baby. "About half a month before the incident, (we) had taken Chen Fuzhao to Neian Psychiatric Hospital," Chen Xibao explained. "(He) would put his rice on the table and his eating utensils in the bowl." "Also, he could spend the whole day at home without saying anything, unlike what was shown on TV." "Yang, the head of the hospital where Chen used to work was not nice to him, and they had an argument." "After the incident, about 500 policemen came to Longgang Town for investigation. Everyone in town was taken to the police station for questioning. I was questioned too. After Fuzhao was taken in for questioning, (they) found out about the murder case." After Chen Fuzhao was arrested, police did not allow any family member to see him. They came to know about the TV.

An official at the local Politics and Legal Committee: "It's unknown whether (Chen Fuzhao) was clear-minded or not when the incident took place."
In August 2003, when questioned by WOIPFG, an official at the local Politics and Legal Committee who was in charge of the crackdown of Falun Gong said that, "It's unknown whether (Chen Fuzhao) was clear-minded or not when the incident took place. What he said and did contradicted what's in the (Falun Gong's) books. I found it puzzling, too. This case was assigned by a 'special team'."

The head of a local clinic: "Chen Fuzhao has mental problems."
On Jan. 3, 2004 Beijing time, the head of a local clinic in Cangnan County told WOIPFG during investigation that he had known Chen for many years. "He (Chen) does have mental problems. He had the problem before and was doing better for a period of time. This time he relapsed after several people beat him up…There were reasons for his mental problem. We knew each other before. He's nice person. Here the healthcare system did not let him make a living. This was one of the reasons. He used to work in the hospital but got fired, so he opened up his own clinic later. But he was forced to move. Later he spent 50,000 yuan and bought the Lupu Clinic. But he couldn't bring in any income. The employees inside (the clinic) had arguments and beat him up. All these triggered the relapse."

"He had mental problems as early as when he was at the Longxin Hospital. It's been a while. He had been to the doctors and frequently had relapse." "Some of our doctors accounted his parents as one factor. When he graduated from college 7-8 years ago, his parents arranged his marriage, which is very common here in our area. This has contributed to his mental problem. He did not like the arrangement and wanted to annul the (marriage) contract. But it had already been two or three years at the time, so he could not annul it. … The second factor was the healthcare department. They did not leave him with any option. He graduated from college but was not given any opportunity to make a living. They did not offer him a job nor did they show him any caring.
(Note: Chen met his current wife Yu Xiaoling later. They were married for about two years.)

Another doctor who knew Chen told WOIPFG, "Chen Fuzhao has had mental problem for many years."

Reporter: "When Chen was interviewed, sometimes he was clear-minded, and sometimes he was not."
A reporter who interviewed Chen told WOIPFG that when Chen was interviewed, "sometimes he was clear-minded, sometimes he was not." After the interview was aired, many viewers called and said, "Chen Fuzhao looks like a psychosis."

WOIPFG also discovered that there were not many people practicing Falun Gong in Longgang. There was only person who went out of town to do business, who had never read any Falun Gong book and only learned the exercises twice, he was sent to the "re-education" or "converting class" as a Falun Gong practitioner.

Within a few months after the incident, investigator from WOIPFG also got in touch with a law firm in Cangnan County. Its lawyers said that they had discussed the case and all thought that if the defendant was psychotic, he should not be sentenced to death. But since Chen's case was very sensitive, the verdict could be different.

On December 30, 2003, the Intermediate Court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province sentenced Chen Fuzhao to death. This verdict has not only violated the related Chinese and international laws, but has also let people to believe that this was a move to eliminate the witness.

WOIPFG will be releasing further investigation findings, including how the local and the senior levels in the Public Security, as well as the news media used this case to frame Falun Gong by coaxing, threatening, and high pressure, in an attempt to further carry out the crackdown and persecution. Please check WOIPFG's news release frequently.

Due to the severity of the case and the safety and well-beings of the witnesses, all abovementioned evidence, including documents, photos, sound recordings or video tapes, will be kept on file by WOIPFG. WOIPFG will submit these evidences to the legal institute at a proper time.

World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong

Tel：1-347-448-5790；Fax：1-347-402-1444；
Mail Address：P.O. Box 84， New york, NY 10116
Website： http://www.upholdjustice.org/, http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/