(Minghui.org) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s persecution of Falun Gong has lasted 24 years. After current CCP head Xi Jinping came to power 11 years ago, just like his predecessor Hu Jintao, he continued Jiang Zemin’s policy aimed at eradicating Falun Gong under the directives “ruin their reputations, destroy them physically, and bankrupt them financially.”
Over the past 24 years, countless practitioners have been arrested, detained, and tortured. Over 5,000 deaths as a direct result of this persecution have been confirmed, though due to the difficulty in getting information out of China, the actual death toll is believed to be much higher.
Below are several recent incidents of persecution. This includes a woman who died in police custody six days following her arrest and two more women who were sentenced to ten and seven years for distributing Falun Gong materials.
Deaths Due to Persecution
Once Incarcerated for 13 Years, Inner Mongolia Woman Dies Six Days After Another Arrest
Ms. Liang Lixin of Tuquan County, Hinggan League, Inner Mongolia, died six days after she was arrested in March 2023 while visiting her daughter in Changchun City, Jilin Province.
The Guilin Road Police Station in Changchun City targeted Ms. Liang because they suspected her of putting up Falun Gong flyers on Guilin Road. Ms. Liang refused to cooperate when the police ordered her to write statements renouncing her faith in Falun Gong or sign the interrogation records. The police took her to the Jiutai Detention Center and then to the Changchun City Detention Center, where she died. The police were in the process of building a case against her when she passed away.
The exact dates of Ms. Liang’s arrest and death are unclear. The cause of her death and details of her detention also remain to be investigated.
Ms. Liang’s passing was preceded by decades of persecution for her faith. She served 2.5 years of forced labor and two prison terms totaling 10.5 years prior to her latest arrest.
Inner Mongolia Woman Dies Four Years After Serving a Five-Year Prison Term
Succumbing to the physical torture, administration of toxic drugs, and mental distress from serving a five-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Li Ping passed away on September 15, 2023, only eight days before her 61st birthday.
Ms. Li from Holingol City, Inner Mongolia, took up Falun Gong in 1997. Not long after, all her physical ailments that had tormented her for years disappeared. Grateful to Falun Gong for giving her a new life, she remained firm in her faith when the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution on July 20, 1999. After that, she endured countless incidents of harassment. Her home was ransacked twice and she was twice held in brainwashing centers.
Prior to her five-year prison sentence handed down in 2015, she served a forced labor camp term of 2.5 years. Two days before her release from prison, guard Zhao Jian forced her to sit still on a small bench for 9 hours as punishment for doing the Falun Gong exercises.
Two Sisters Harassed, One Dies the Day after Her Release
Two sisters in Maanshan City, Anhui Province, were arrested on October 23, 2023, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. While Ms. Xu Lixia was released the same day, she suddenly fell and passed away the next day. Her family suspected she was tortured or given toxic drugs while in custody. They tried to seek justice for her, but the authorities forced them to have Ms. Xu’s body cremated on November 5. The younger sister, Ms. Xu Liping, 72, is still held in the Manshan City Detention Center.
Heavy Prison Sentences
Two Yunnan Women Given Lengthy Prison Terms for Distributing Falun Gong Materials
Two women from Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, were recently sentenced, one to ten and the other to seven years, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.
Ms. Liao Wenxian, 62, was arrested on April 21, 2022, after a surveillance camera recorded her distributing Falun Gong materials in Xichou County, which is under the jurisdiction of Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Ms. Fang Shimei, 57, who was with her, escaped at the scene but was arrested later in the day. The police raided their homes and confiscated their Falun Gong books, informational materials, computers, and printers.
Both women were held in the Xichou County Detention Center. Their families recently confirmed that Ms. Fang has been sentenced to ten years and Ms. Liao to seven years. Details about their indictment, trial, and sentencing aren’t clear.
A man in Maoming City, Guangdong Province, recently lost his appeal contesting a nine-year prison sentence for raising awareness about the persecution of his faith in Falun Gong.
The Maoming City Intermediate Court instructed the Maonan District Court to mail its ruling in Mr. Zhou Huajian’s appeals case to his lawyer. The lawyer received the ruling, dated November 8, on November 11, 2023, that Mr. Zhou’s nine-year prison sentence with a 20,000 yuan fine had been upheld. (In China, the trial court acts as an intermediate agent between the appeals court and the defendant.)
Mr. Zhou, a 72-year-old security guard, was arrested on March 26, 2020, for using a mass texting device to send out Falun Gong messages at a local market. The police took him to the Maoming City No. 1 Detention Center, where he remains.
After three years and eight months of detention, Mr. Zhou’s health has declined. He suffers from blurred vision, loss of hearing, swelling of his face, and constant dizziness. He is slow to respond and has difficulty keeping his balance when he walks.
Same Court Sentences Woman to Second 5-Year Term for Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Zhu Fangxia, in her 70s, from Maoming City, Guangdong Province, was sentenced to five years and fined 10,000 yuan in early November 2023 for practicing Falun Gong. The same Maonan District Court that sentenced Ms. Zhu Fangxia had sentenced her to five years in December 2013.
Ms. Zhu filed an appeal protesting her latest prison sentence. She is being held in the Maoming City First Detention Center. According to her family, she fell in the detention center and broke her left hand. She also developed high blood pressure and diabetes. It is unclear whether she is receiving proper medical treatment.
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