(Minghui.org) Mr. Guan Longshan was sentenced to four years in prison in connection with Falun Gong practitioners hanging banners on May 13, 2015. He is one of six practitioners put on trial on April 14, 2016. Ms. Wang Liqian, Mr. Guan's sister-in-law, was sentenced to five years at the same trial.
Banners and signs reading “Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day” and “Global Efforts to Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice” were hung up overnight everywhere in and around Lanzhou City, Gansu Province on May 13, 2015, the 16th anniversary of World Falun Dafa Day.
In response, police arrested a dozen practitioners and their family members, including Mr. Guan, his brother Guan Longyan, sister-in-law Wang Liqian, his sister Guan Longmei, and his 74-year-old father.
Mr. Guan Longshan was arrested on June 19, 2015, at his father's home. Plain-clothed police rushed in when his father opened the door for one of the grandsons. The old man was knocked to the concrete floor. Police handcuffed Mr. Guan, his father, and his sister before taking them to the police station.
Mr. Guan was held at a detention center prior to his trial. He is currently incarcerated at Yongdeng Prison in a remote region of Gansu Province. It has been difficult for his family to visit him, since there is no direct public transportation to there from Lanzhou.
Mr. Guan's sister, Ms. Guan Longmei, was released after an hour of interrogation. His father, however, was tied to an iron chair for over 14 hours before being released. When he returned home, he complained that his chest hurt badly. Without proper and timely care from his children, the older Guan passed away six months later on January 17, 2016.
Brother Loses Job and Sister-in-law Sentenced to Prison
Mr. Guan's brother and sister-in-law barricaded themselves in their apartment for three weeks, trying to avoid arrest, before police broke in through a window to their fourth floor apartment on July 13, 2015. They were physically abused while in police custody. Their home was ransacked and searched. Mr. Guan's brother was released two days later. His sister-in-law, Ms. Wang Liqian, was taken to a detention center and sentenced to five years in Gansu Women's Prison after the trial.
After the ordeal, Mr. Guan's brother returned to work, only to be told that he was fired. He now lives with his father and sister, and cares for his two school-aged children and his own mother. In December 2016, he and his mother-in-law went to visit his wife in prison, but the authorities refused to let them see her because she had refused to denounce her belief in Falun Gong.
Mother Devastated After Death of Husband
Mr. Guan Longshan has a large family. Both his mother and sister, Ms. Guan Longmei, and his brother and sister-in-law practice Falun Gong. They were repeatedly persecuted due to their belief in the past 17 years.
In 2007, Mr. Guan's mother, Ms. Lu Guiqin, was taken to a brainwashing center for practicing Falun Gong. She was secretly sentenced to four years in prison afterward. By the time the family found out about it, the appeal period had already expired.
Within a year of imprisonment, Ms. Lu lost her eyesight in both eyes and became mentally disorientated from severe torture. She was finally released in August 2010 on medical parole. Since then, Ms. Lu has depended on her husband to take care of her. She is paralyzed on one side of her body.
Since the death of her husband in January 2016, Ms. Lu's condition deteriorated. She did not respond when spoken to and had trouble sleeping. She was taken to the hospital and CT scans showed three blockages in her brain.
Sister Guan Longmei's History of Being Persecuted
Mr. Guan's sister, Ms. Guan Longmei, 47, had been sent to forced labor camps twice, a brainwashing center once, and detained at least three times in the past 17 years for practicing Falun Gong. Her husband divorced her under pressure when their daughter was only one year old.
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist regime launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong under then-president Jiang Zemin. Like many practitioners, Ms. Guan Longmei went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. She went to Beijing in July 2000, and again in December 2000. Each time she was brought back to Lanzhou and put in detention centers, where she was beaten and physically tortured until she couldn't see color anymore. Her back became black and purple.
In February 2001, a few days after she returned home from the detention center, police broke into her home. They took her daughter from her arms and told her to have a talk at the police station.
Ms. Guan was sent to Ping'antai Forced Labor Camp that afternoon. She was given one year forced labor camp. While incarcerated. She was often beaten and hung up by her arms, with only the tips of her toes touching the ground.
Soon after she returned home, she was arrested again and sent to a brainwashing center, and only returned home in May 2002.
In August 2002, Ms. Guan was again arrested at another practitioner's home, she was given a year and a half in Ping'antai Forced Labor Camp. Even when she returned home in April 2004, local police still closely monitored her whereabouts and frequently harass her.
Since her father's death, Ms. Guan has been taking care of her mother full time.
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