Chinese Human Rights Attorney Assaulted

After being assaulted for the fourth time by plainclothes agents, Gao Zhisheng, the renowned and respected Beijing human rights attorney, told the Epoch Times reporter in an interview, “Please say 'thank you' for me to everyone who is concerned about me, and tell them that I'm ok… I promise I will go on doing what I should do in spite of such vicious assaults. ….. I just wish my wife had not witnessed the scene.”

Attorney Gao Zhisheng was assaulted on the night of July 30. He was then brought to Xiaoguan Police Station for questioning, and was released in early in the morning on July 31. Gao told the reporter that this assault was more vicious than the previous ones. Gao was not seriously injured, but sustained injuries all over his body.

The Incident

Gao said he went downstairs three times that night to ask the plainclothed agents to shut their car engine and to stop the noise. On his third visit, the agents attacked him.

According to Gao's account, he first knocked on the door of the plainclothes agents' car (plate No. J24758) at around 10 p.m. and asked the agents to stop the engine. Gao said to the agents, “I am not the only resident here. If someone harassed you at your doorstep every day like this, you must feel as terrible as I do now.” The agent sitting in the front passenger seat answered him with curses, “I'll keep this [one dirty word omitted] engine on the whole night. So what?”

Gao lives on the second floor of the building. The surveillance car was parked just under the bedroom window of Gao's child. The engine's noise kept the child awake all night. Gao described his feelings at that time, “In that situation, of course I was angry. Also imagine how all the other residents in that building were feeling!” Gao went downstairs again and talked to the agents, but the agents again refused to stop the engine. Gao then called the police.

When Gao thought the police had arrived, he went down the third time to meet the policemen at the gate. A stout agent suddenly spat at Gao. Gao dodged, and looked at the agent. The agent shouted at him, “What are you looking at? I'll kick your butt. You think you are something, do you? But you are just a stupid (dirty language omitted) in the eyes of the communist party. ” Gao asked him, “Why do you hate me so much? Why do you curse me in the public?” The agent yelled, “I'll not only curse you, but beat you.” Then he threw himself at Gao and started beating him.

Not Fighting Back

According to Gao, five or six plainclothed agents assaulted him together. Gao had to hold the most vicious agent tightly to protect himself. Another agent tried several times to hit Gao with a brick, but failed as he could not aim as Gao was struggling the whole time. But it was too late for Gao to dodge so the brick cut off a piece of skin off Gao's elbow.

Gao said, “This time they were seriously trying to injure me. Maybe they wanted to break my legs and arms. Those agents are very venomous. They even kicked me in my private parts.”

Gao was injured all over his body. He told the reporter that his right foot was hurting badly, and there was a big lump on his right leg. Gao's left wrist and elbow were badly bruised, his right thumb nail cracked, the mark of the wound on his left rib was almost the size of a palm and at the top of his leg was a 6 cm (2.4 inch) long lump.

“When you get one wound on your body,” Gao said, “you feel the pain of the wound. But when you are hurt all over, you feel only the concept of being in pain. They (the plainclothes agents) treat me as a foe they believe should be physically eliminated. Even the policemen who questioned me kept sighing, because they all knew I did not fight back at all. The policemen could do nothing to help.”

Since Gao returned from Linyi City (where he tried to attend the court hearing of a blind human rights activist), the plainclothes agents had made noises for two whole nights under his window, which disturbed the entire neighborhood. After Gao claimed he would leave Beijing if the harassment continued, the agents showed some restraint. Attorney Gao interpreted their behavior, “In the past, the agents usually restrained themselves more or less upon my protest. But this time, they attacked me only because of a few peaceful words. Maybe it's because recently I mentioned in an article the name of the head of the secret agents from Tongzhou District Public Security Bureau. Maybe they want to cripple me so that I could not write anything else to disclose their crimes.”

Gao's Wife Worried

“I believe in God,” said Gao, “so violence can never scare me or dishearten me. But I don't want my wife to witness such a scene. When I was beaten up, she was so worried… The agent hit me with a brick. I dodged, but the brick still touched my arm and cut a piece of skin off. You can see he hit with his full strength. If I had not dodged, my arm could have been broken.”

When Gao returned home from the police station, his wife caressed his hair again and again in long silence…

When his wife cleaned his wounds, she said, “The one thing I can not tolerate is other people bullying you. But now they have been bullying you for eight months, and their assaults are more and more violent…”

During the interview, Gao fell silent every time the reporter asked about the suffering of his family. At last he exhaled deeply, “As I said today to the policemen, the Chinese Communist Party has left only two options for the Chinese people: either you live like a dog, or you die. If you express your opinion, the authorities will go to great lengths to ruin you. But please tell everyone I'm doing fine. I'll have a good sleep as usual, and continue to do what I should do.”