(Minghui.org) Sentenced with her daughter, two sons-in-law, and three other extended family members for their shared faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Fu Guihua of Changchun City, Jilin Province, died two months after she was admitted to a local prison. She was 55.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Fu’s family received a call from the Jilin Province Women’s Prison on the evening of July 25 and was told that she had just been rushed to the Bethune First Hospital of Jilin University emergency room. When they went to the hospital, Gao Yang, the guard of the prison’s 8th ward, refused to allow them to see Ms. Fu, claiming that she was being given emergency care. Shortly after, Gao said Ms. Fu had passed away. The official cause of her death was cirrhosis of the liver.
When her family demanded to see her body, the doctor said, “Let me clean up the blood and the operating room. I will let you see her after that.” When her family later asked again, the prison guards used all kinds of excuses to keep them from seeing her body.
The authorities later moved Ms. Fu’s body to the Chaoyanggou Funeral Home without informing her family. The funeral home also prevented her family from seeing her body and insisted that they only see it in the presence of a prison guard.
Her family filed complaints with the prison leadership and prison management bureau. The authorities have not said they will allow her family to see her body, on the condition that they don’t bring their cellphones with them or take pictures. It’s not clear if they have seen her body yet.
Ms. Fu was arrested in a police sweep on August 15, 2019. Her daughter Ms. Yu Jianli, Ms. Yu’s husband Mr. Wang Dongji, Mr. Wang’s parents, and Ms. Fu’s other son-in-law and his father were also arrested that day.
Judge Cui Ren of Lishu County Court prevented their lawyers from representing them. He said to one of the lawyers, “If you think I have violated the law, feel free to file a complaint against me anywhere you want.”
During the practitioners’ hearing on September 28, 2020, judge Li Nan frequently interrupted each practitioner’s self-defense statement. She didn’t allow the practitioners to argue about the lack of legal basis for the charges filed against them or to ask her or the prosecutor questions about the evidence or charges.
Ms. Fu said that many of her ailments disappeared after practicing Falun Gong, and she let go of resentment and became more considerate. To keep her from talking, judge Li ordered the bailiff to remove her from the courtroom.
The practitioners received their verdicts on February 26, 2021. All seven members of the extended family were sentenced to between seven and seven-and-a-half years in prison. They appealed with the Siping City Intermediate Court but were turned down.
On May 27, 2021, Ms. Fu, her daughter Ms. Yu, and four other practitioners who were sentenced with them—Ms. Wang Fengzhi, Ms. Liu Dongying, Ms. Cui Guixian, and Ms. Zhang Shaoping—were taken to the Jilin Province Women’s Prison. They were strictly managed in the 8th ward, forced to sit on small stools for long hours every day, and denied visits from their lawyers or family members.
Ms. Fu took up Falun Gong in June 1996. Before that, she had severe sciatica and was unable to sit up on her own. She needed help to get around. She also had issues with her heart, liver, and kidneys. She had diabetes and low blood pressure. Practicing Falun Gong soon enabled her to regain her health.
Three years later, her life was shattered again when the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution. To avoid being arrested, Ms. Fu was forced to leave her eight- and ten-year-old daughters in 2001 and live away from home for the next ten years.
Ms. Fu was arrested on June 3, 2013, for hanging up a Falun Gong banner. Tang Ke, the head of Nongan County Domestic Security Division, locked her in a dark room and forced her to sit in a chair with her legs tied to the chair legs. He then struck her arms, legs, and feet with a metal bar, while another guard, Lu Ming, repeatedly slapped her in the face for about half an hour. Ms. Fu was in a lot of pain long after the beating. She experienced numbness and felt pain whenever she touched something. The swelling in her legs did not subside for two months.
Ms. Fu was later sentenced to three years in Jilin Province Women’s Prison. She developed hepatitis and a severe stoop only one month into her sentence. Her legs and feet were severely swollen and she was having trouble keeping her balance while walking.
Because her two daughters, Ms. Yu Jianping and Ms. Yu Jianli, filed complaints against Tang Ke for arresting their mother, the police arrested them in retaliation and detained them for ten days.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Jilin Province Women’s Prison: +86-431-85375031An Tongyu (安彤宇), head of Jilin Province Women’s Prison: +86-431-85375001Wei Lihui (魏丽慧), deputy head of Jilin Province Women’s Prison: +86-15312692195, +86-431-85375006Qian Wei (钱伟), head of the 8th ward: +86-18504301922Gao Yang (高阳), deputy head of the 8th ward: +86-18504302264
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
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