BEIJING, February
28 (Xinhuanet) -- Police investigations have found
that the self-immolation tragedy by five Falun Gong
practitioners last month in Tiananmen Square was a
direct result of incitement and spiritual control
by cult leader Li Hongzhi, and a conspiracy by his diehard
followers.
The direct organizers of the
tragedy, Liu Yunfang and Xue Hongjun, have been
arrested, while another mastermind of the horrible
scene, Wan Jindong, has been hospitalized since he set
himself ablaze together with four others on
January 23.
According to the
investigations, Liu Yunfang, 57, was a former
factory worker in Kaifeng City, Henan Province in
central China. He started practicing Falun Gong in
1997.
Not long afterwards, he began to
boast of his "heavenly eyes" that allow
him to see "life and substances in another space".
He also claimed to be one of the top ten disciples
of Li Hongzhi.
Since May 2000, in his
lectures Li Hongzhi has repeatedly urged practitioners to
"devote their lives wholly to Falun Gong" so that
they can achieve "nirvana".
Liu
told his fellow practitioners Wang Jindong, Hao Huijun and
Xue Hongjun that he had realized what
"nirvana" was. According to him, it
meant giving up everything and thereby gaining access to
" heaven".
Liu declared later
that while he was practicing, he saw his spirit
carrying a lighter and gasoline to Tiananmen Square and
setting it on fire. Whereupon he saw his
"Buddha body" spraying fire from the
mouth and displaying a brilliant light."
Liu told this to Xue Hongjun, who then spread the
story among other Falun Gong practitioners.
Meanwhile, another practitioner, Wang Jindong,
claimed that he had come to realize that the
supreme form of achieving "nirvana" was
to burn oneself in Tiananmen Square, and still better, on
the eve of the Lunar New Year.
Following the latest instruction of Li Hongzhi which urged
his followers to sacrifice everything for Falun
Gong, Liu, Wang, Xue and Hao met on January 10,
2001, and agreed to burn themselves to death in
Tiananmen on the eve of the Lunar New Year, which fell on
January 23.
Xue further suggested that
more people should be organized to join them. And
so Liu Yunfang and Wang Jindong called Liu Baorong, Liu
Chunling and her 12-year-old daughter Liu Ying, while Hao
Huijun phoned her daughter Chen Guo, who was
studying in Beijing and also a
practitioner.
On January 16, Liu Yunfang,
Wang Jindong, Hao Huijun, Liu Baorong, Liu
Chunling and Liu Siying left Kaifeng for Beijing. Xue went
to the railway station to see them off, and said he would
meet them in "heaven".
The six arrived in Beijing the next morning, and met Chen
Guo. They found lodgings at the house of a Beijing
practitioner, but were transferred to another
apartment by the local Falun Gong organization on
the same day.
The seven thereupon started
their preparations. They bought 40 litters of
gasoline, which they poured into 14 empty Sprite
bottles. Perfume was sprayed over the bottles to
cover up the smell of gasoline. The time for the
self-immolation was fixed at 2: 30 p.m., January 23.
On the fatal day, Hao Huijun, Chen Guo, Liu
Chunling and Liu Siying took a taxi to Tiananmen
Square. They poured gasoline on their bodies in a
nearby toilet and set fire to themselves on the
square.
About 10 minutes later,
Liu Yunfang, Wang Jindong and Liu Baorong arrived
at the square in another taxi. The latter two set
themselves on fire, but Liu Yunfang did not. He
didn't even pour gasoline on himself.
Liu Chunling died on the spot, while the other
four were seriously injured and were immediately
rushed to hospital.
"I
did not set myself on fire, because the 'master' wanted me
to stay. He want me to live so that I can
speak," Liu Yunfang explained to the
police.
"They had a deeper belief
than I, so they attained 'nirvana'. I had not reached their
level so I changed my mind," Liu added.
Xue Hongjun was reluctant to admit his role in
the tragedy. But pressed by reporters, he gave a long sigh,
and said, "I'm a sinner. "
Upon
learning that Li Hongzhi has denied that the victims were
followers of Falun Gong, Xue said, "They are
telling lies. Li Hongzhi is shirking his
responsibility, but God will not forgive
him." His hands trembled with anger.
With her body entirely wrapped in bandage,
12-year-old Liu Siying said her biggest wish is to
go home and continue with her schooling.
"I must catch up with my lessons. My
classmates are going into the sixth grade, I don't
want to be left behind alone," she said.
Chen Guo, a music college student, said she
wanted to return to school so that she could be a music
teacher upon graduation.
However, doctors
at the Beijing Jishuitan Hospital said the four
are still in a critical condition.
"We have transplanted skin for all four of them. But
the burns are massive, and the danger of infection
is high," said Li Chi, the doctor in charge
of the burn unit.
Even they survive, they
face a difficult life, as their faces are
seriously deformed and their hands are actually
non-existent, the doctor said.
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