(Minghui.org) Four Jilin City, Jilin Province residents were arrested on March 3, 2023 for their faith in Falun Gong. One of them remains in custody at the time of this writing.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Three officers knocked on Ms. Li Cuiling’s door at around 5 p.m. on March 3. Ms. Li’s 75-year-old father, Mr. Li Changhai, opened the door. The police claimed that they had been following Ms. Li’s mother, 76-year-old Ms. Li Shuyun, for a period of time, as she was putting up informational posters about Falun Gong with another practitioner, Ms. Jiang, who is around 80 years old. Both also had their photos taken.
Having arrested Ms. Jiang earlier that afternoon, the police also arrested Ms. Li Cuiling and her parents. Their Falun Gong books, a laptop computer, a printer, four cellphones, and 28,000 yuan in cash were confiscated. The older couple tried to stop the police from taking away the cash, as that was almost all of their life savings. The police gave back 1,000 yuan and claimed that the couple needed to provide documents to show the money was theirs, before they could return the remaining funds.
The family of three were taken to the local police station for interrogation. The elder Ms. Li was held in a metal chair for 12 hours. She was unable to walk by the time she was let down. Si Yu, the deputy police chief, attempted to deceive her and her husband into providing information about other practitioners. He said that he would release their daughter if they just revealed information about two other practitioners, but the couple refused to comply. Si became infuriated and verbally abused them.
While the couple were released after a day in custody, their daughter remains in custody at Jilin City Detention Center.
Meanwhile, the police searched Ms. Jiang’s home, including the storage shed outside her home. She has also been released.
Since the persecution started in 1999, Ms. Li Cuiling has been arrested at least eight times prior to her latest ordeal. She was once held in a forced labor camp for nearly a year, detained in a brainwashing center for a month and a half, and spent a total of a year and a half in various detention centers. She was subjected to unspeakable tortures and humiliations. She was released from prison in November 2019, only to have her pension suspended in July 2020. With no other source of income, she has to do odd jobs to support herself and her parents.
Ms. Li’s husband divorced her in September 2001, fearful of being persecuted himself, and was given custody of their then-18-month-old child. They remarried in 2006, but the harassment got so intense that he had to divorce Ms. Li again in 2014 while she was living away from home to avoid persecution.
Her two children were denied their mother’s care. The police frequently threatened and terrorized her ex-father-in-law, a retired police officer. His health worsened and he eventually became bedridden and needed a feeding tube. His wife lived in constant fear and jumped every time people knocked on the door.
Ms. Li has been repeatedly harassed during the past few years. A residential committee staff member approached her on October 28, 2020 and ordered her to attend a brainwashing session. The police harassed her two more times, on May 13 and June 12, 2021. She was deceived into going to the police station on June 14, 2021 and detained for five days.
As soon as Ms. Li stepped out of her home to work on the early morning of July 8, 2022, an officer walked up to her, showed his police ID, and ordered her to cooperate with him. Five officers came to search her home. One of her Falun Gong books was taken away.
The police raided Ms. Li’s home again in August 2022, accusing her of having a printer at home. As they couldn’t find the alleged printer, they put her on house arrest.
The police searched Ms. Li’s home another time on February 8, 2023 and didn’t find anything related to Falun Gong.
Wang Wei (王伟), chief of Zunyilu Police Station: +86-432-63099488Si Yu (司宇), officer of Zunyilu Police StationYu Hualong (于化龙), officer of Zunyilu Police Station
Repeatedly Arrested and Force-fed, Jilin Woman Loses Family and Pension for Practicing Falun Gong