(Minghui.org) Ms. Feng Lianxia’s family recently learned that she was secretly sentenced to 3.5 years for practicing Falun Gong and she was taken to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Feng, 66, from Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, was followed by the police on April 22, 2022, when she put up information about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The police arrested her and raided her home. Her Falun Gong books, lecture tapes, photo of Falun Gong’s founder and 2,700 yuan imprinted with information about Falun Gong (a way practitioners in China use to tell people about the persecution due to the strict censorship) were confiscated.
At the Honggang Police Station, Ms. Feng was handcuffed to a metal chair and interrogated for nine hours. The police attempted to find out who gave her the Falun Gong materials, but she refused to reveal the source. She was released on bail around midnight.
The police continued to monitor Ms. Feng and she often saw plainclothes officers following her when she went out.
Ms. Feng was arrested again on July 12, 2022 during a mass arrest of over 100 Falun Gong practitioners. Her family only knew that she was held in the Daqing City Detention Center but they could not find out her case status. In August 2023, they were finally able to learn that she was given a 3.5-year prison sentence and was imprisoned, but they were not told any details about her indictment or the court hearings.
Past Persecution
Ms. Feng, a retired employee of the Daqing Oilfield Supplies and Equipment Company, struggled with poor health since childhood, including a condition regarding her internal organs. She also had blurred vision. She tried various treatments, but nothing helped. Shortly after she began practicing Falun Gong in early 1998, all her health issues disappeared.
As soon as the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Wang Xicheng, Ms. Feng’s workplace manager, ordered her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. Officer Li Wenzhong of the No. 5 Oil Production Plant Police Station also harassed her at home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, photo of Falun Gong’s founder and her ID.
Because Ms. Feng refused to renounce her faith, she was subjected to repeated arrests and detention throughout the next two decades. Her husband was also forced to divorce her.
Arrested for Appealing for Falun Gong
Ms. Feng went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on June 13, 2000. She was arrested at Tiananmen Square and taken to the Daqing City Liaison Office in Beijing, before she was taken back to Daqing. She was extorted 4,000 yuan by her workplace, including 2,000 yuan to pay to the Liaison Office in Beijing and 10,000 yuan by the police, which was later returned.
Three days after Ms. Feng was released, she was seized again by Wang Xicheng and Du Guoyuan from her workplace and taken to a brainwashing center run by their company. They hustled her so fast to the brainwashing center that she was out of breath. When her family went to the brainwashing center to look for her, Wang and Du demanded they pay 10,000 yuan in exchange for her release. Her family paid the money and took her home. They later managed to get the money back.
Ms. Feng went to Beijing to appeal again on December 15, 2000. The bus she was riding in was stopped by an armed military officer in Yutian County, Hebei Province. As she didn’t have an ID, she was arrested again and sent back to Daqing. When she was released after 45 days of detention, Wang Xicheng extorted another 5,000 yuan from her, including 2,000 yuan to pay the Daqing City Liaison Office in Beijing, where she was detained briefly after her arrest.
3.5 Months of Detention
Ms. Feng was arrested again at home on September 27, 2001, by officers Zhai Li, Feng Limin, and Liu of the Honggang Police Station. She was handcuffed to the heating pipes overnight and taken to the Daqing City Detention Center the next day. A month later, she was transferred to the Honggang Lockup, where she was held for two weeks before she was taken to the Sartu District Shelter.
The shelter’s deputy director beat Ms. Feng’s head with his slipper when he saw her doing the Falun Gong exercises. He then grabbed a broom and hit her on her shoulder and back. Ms. Feng was held there for two more months before she was released.
Repeated Harassment
Ms. Feng was reported to the police for talking to people about Falun Gong and was arrested on May 13, 2003. Officer Lin Shui of the Honggang Police Station grabbed her hair and slapped her face. She was beaten for two hours, and afterwards she was disoriented.
Ms. Feng started a hunger strike after she was taken to the Honggang Lockup. On the fifth day, a guard attempted to photograph her, but she did not cooperate. The guard grabbed her hair and shoved her to the ground. Her head hit something, resulting in enormous pain.
The police gave Ms. Feng two years at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp. Due to her weak physical condition, the labor camp refused to admit her, and she was released on medical parole.
Due to constant police harassment in November 2003, Ms. Feng moved out of her home and stayed with another practitioner, Ms. Gao Shuqin. Ms. Gao was also being monitored by the police. When the police came to arrest Ms. Gao on the morning of November 27, 2003, Ms. Feng was also abducted. Both women were taken to the Daqing City Detention Center that afternoon.
Ms. Feng refused to tell the detention center guard her name and started a hunger strike to protest the persecution. In retaliation the guards told the inmates to beat her. They tied her hands behind her back, slapped her face, and pulled her hair. They also whipped her face with a towel. Ms. Feng’s face became swollen and her entire body was in pain.
The police later managed to learn Ms. Feng’s identify. A month later, Zhang Yuming who is associated with the 610 Office in her workplace and Liu Wanmin of the Honggang Police Station took her to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp, where she was still denied admission due to her physical condition. The police took her back to the detention center and detained her for another ten days, before releasing her.
Serving Time in the Labor Camp
Due to the pressure from the persecution, Ms. Feng’s husband was forced to divorce her in February 2004. Days later, Ms. Feng was arrested again and taken to the labor camp for the third time.
When she arrived, Ms. Feng shouted “Falun Dafa is good!” Several police officers gagged her mouth, tied her hands behind her back, and slapped her face with a rolled-up newspaper. She was admitted this time.
During the more than one year she was held in the labor camp, Ms. Feng was forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong, and squat or stand for long hours. She was also deprived of sleep and had to do hard labor without pay. Her body often trembled uncontrollably and she felt cold due to the torture, yet the guards attempted to videotape her and blame Falun Gong for causing her condition.
When she was released, Zhang from the 610 Office asked her if she planned to continue practicing Falun Gong. When Ms. Feng said yes, Zhang threatened to sentence her. With her family’s help, Ms. Feng finally returned home.
Another Arrest and Labor Camp Term
The police began to harass Ms. Feng again in July 2007. Officer Liu went to her workplace and residence in August and early December 2007, but did not find her.
More than twelve officers from the Honggang Police Station, including Liu and Lin Shui, went to Ms. Feng’s home on December 19, 2007, and arrested her. After more than 20 days at the Daqing City Detention Center, Ms. Feng was given another one-year term at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp. The detention center refused to accept her because of her high blood pressure. The police held her at the Sartu District Lockup for three days and released her.
The police also harassed Ms. Feng in August 2008 during the Beijing Olympics.
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