17-Year-Old Sees Parents For First Time in 14 Years After Their Release from Prison for Upholding Their Faith
(Minghui.org) Zhao Leyuan, 17, finally saw his parents for the first time when they recently returned home after serving 14 years in prison for their faith in Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Raised by his grandparents, who are in their 80s, Leyuan had always been asking what his parents looked like and when they would come home.
Mr. Zhao Longzhi and Ms. Luo Na before the persecution
Mr. Zhao Longzhi and Ms. Luo Na after being released
Leyuan’s parents, Mr. Zhao Longzhi, 46, and Ms. Luo Na, 44, both former employees of Najin Power Plant in Lhasa City, Tibet, were arrested for distributing materials about Falun Gong on January 31, 2006, when Leyuan was only three years old. They were sentenced nine months later to 14 years in prison.
While serving time at Niedang Village Prison in Qushui County, Mr. Zhao was tortured and forced to perform unpaid labor. He lost a few front teeth and had much difficulty eating.
Ms. Luo was imprisoned in the Lhasa North Urban Autonomous Region Prison. She was force-fed, beaten, and tortured.
Neither prison allowed their family members to visit them during their entire 14-year term.
After the couple were released on January 31, 2020, the police in Lhasa ordered them to go back to Ms. Luo’s hometown in Pi County, Sichuan Province, instead of staying in Lhasa.
Mr. Zhao’s sister bought their flight tickets. While the police in Lhasa sent them onto the plane, the police in Pi County waited at the airport in Chengdu City. As soon as the couple landed, the officers took them to the police station, recorded their personal information, and demanded that they report to them before leaving town.
Ms. Luo was very weak and vomited all the way back home.
Related reports:
Lhasa Couple Imprisoned for Fourteen Years for Their Faith
Mr. Zhao Longzhi, His Wife Ms. Luo Na and Ms. Zhao Hong Imprisoned in Tibet Since 2006
Practitioners Zhao Longzhi and Luo Na from Lhasa, Tibet Are Arrested