Shandong Man Arrested for Raising Awareness about the Persecution of Falun Gong Online

(Minghui.org) A Pingdu City, Shandong Province resident, Mr. Li Shihai, was arrested on June 14, 2022 by police in Luoyang City, Henan Province for sending information about the persecution of Falun Gong on WeChat, a major social media platform in China.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Since 2019, the Henan Province police have gone across the country and arrested practitioners for spreading information online about the persecution of Falun Gong. Around the same time as Mr. Li Shihai’s arrest, two women (one from Shanghai and another from Wuhan City, Hubei Province) were sentenced to 9.5 and 9 years, respectively, by a Luoyang court for their online activities. Three more practitioners, Ms. Fu Nijuan of Zhijiang City, Hubei Province, Mr. Li Fuchun of Beijing, and Mr. Wu Jiajian of Laixi City, Shandong Province, are now awaiting trial by the same court in Luoyang.

While arresting Mr. Li Shihai, the police confiscated both his and his wife’s cellphones. Mr. Li was taken to the Chanhe Police Station in Luoyang the same day, which is about 500 miles from Pingdu.

Mr. Li’s brother was informed by the Luoyang police on June 25 that he had been transferred to the Luoyang City Detention Center. The police accused him of creating groups on WeChat and sharing website links deemed “sensitive” by the authorities. When Mr. Li’s brother called the detention center to inquire about his case, the guards refused to provide any information. The family has hired a lawyer to represent him. 

Mr. Li’s arrest left his wife in a dire situation. As he is the sole breadwinner for the family, she now struggles to raise their seven-month-old daughter on her own.

Past Persecution

Mr. Li used to have severe Hepatitis B. He tried many medications and spent a fortune on treatment, but his condition didn’t improve. After taking up Falun Gong in 1998, he recovered and became full of energy. But his peaceful life didn’t last very long, as the communist regime ordered the persecution a year later. For upholding his faith, Mr. Li was repeatedly arrested and tortured. His first wife also divorced him.

Savagely Beaten and Buried in the Snow

A group of officers scaled his fence and broke into Mr. Li’s home in the middle of the night in January 2001. They dragged him out of bed and brought him barefooted to the police station. Then officers Liu Wei and Dai Yugang stripped off his clothes and buried him in the snow, while pouring cold water over him. 

As Mr. Li refused to give in, the police tied him in a metal chair and beat him with a wooden stick. When the stick broke, they picked up a broom and continued to beat him. When the broom also broke, they found a metal stick and struck his ankles. No matter how they tortured Mr. Li, he remained firm in practicing Falun Gong.

Torture illustration: buried in the snow

After four days of torture, Mr. Li was taken to the Pingdu City Detention Center and beaten by the inmates. He held a hunger strike for 13 days in protest and was force-fed saline water four times. On the verge of death, he was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. The police released Mr. Li after extorting a large amount of money from his family. 

The police returned to his home many times and confiscated many of his valuables, including two motorcycles, a TV, media players and recorders, as well as his Falun Gong books.

Drug Administration in a Psychiatric Hospital 

Mr. Li went to the local Party committee in 2002 and demanded that they return his Falun Gong books, only to be arrested and taken to a local psychiatric hospital. 

Mr. Li was forced to take unknown drugs and injected with toxic drugs that damaged his nervous system. He was also electrocuted and ordered to verbally abuse Falun Gong and its founder. He was tortured at the hospital for over a month and had 2,400 yuan extorted from him before being released.

As a result of the torture and forced drug administration, Mr. Li suffered a mental instability and often woke up from nightmares at night. His condition kept worsening, rendering him unable to live a normal life. His wife divorced him. 

Through practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Li recovered by 2004. He went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong, but was arrested again and held in another psychiatric hospital for seven months. This time, he suffered brain injury and memory loss.

Sentenced to Two Years

Mr. Li was arrested again on May 17, 2016, when he was selling tea in the market. He was first given 15 days at the Laixi Lockup and then put on criminal detention at the Laixi City Detention Center.

When his lawyer visited him on June 14, 2016, he learned that Mr. Li had been holding a hunger strike since his arrest. He was force-fed and had been vomiting blood. Even during their meeting, he vomited blood again. The lawyer also noticed swelling on Mr. Li’s head, likely a result of beatings. 

Mr. Li was sentenced to two years later on and released on May 16, 2018. 

Prior to his latest ordeal, he was arrested again on May 10, 2021. His Falun Gong books, laptop and three cellphones were confiscated. The 1,000 yuan on his WeChat account was also misappropriated by the police. He was released the same day and ordered to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong.

Related reports:

Judge Interferes with Lawyer’s Representation of Falun Gong Practitioner

The Mental Torture of Mr. Li Shihai from Pingdu City, Shandong Province Continues After Four Months