Heilongjiang Woman Jailed for Telling Her Former Tenants about Falun Gong
(Minghui.org) A 53-year-old resident of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province was sentenced to one year and ten months following a court appearance on November 13, 2022. Ms. Sun Tairong was transferred to Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison (also known as Harbin Women’s Prison) on May 15, 2023.
Ms. Sun Tairong
Ms. Sun was targeted because she talked to her two former tenants about her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Wang Binghao and Li Tang, two young men, had rented her apartment in preparation for civil service exams required for government jobs, the most stable jobs in China with decent income.
Feeling that it wasn’t easy for the younger generation to start their career, Ms. Sun offered many additional help to her tenants, including providing free high-speed wifi for them and waiving the early termination fee when they suddenly decided to move out before the lease expired.
Ms. Sun also agreed to return the unused rent. When delivering the money to Wang and Li, she told them about Falun Gong and its health benefits, hoping it could help them to stay healthy during the pandemic.
The two young men reported her to the Nangang District Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extrajudiciary agency tasked with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong. The police then started following Ms. Sun.
At around 8 a.m. on January 20, 2022, Li Fumin and another officer from Xuanqing Police Station deceived Ms. Sun’s husband into going to their office by claiming to be interested in renting properties from him and his wife. He went, only to be arrested and forced to turn in his house key and cell phone.
Li and Lyu Bingtao of Nangang District Domestic Security Division then went to Ms. Sun’s home and arrested her. They confiscated her Falun Gong books, computer, printer, and other valuables.
The police interrogated Ms. Sun for 53 hours straight following her arrest and ordered her family to persuade her to give up Falun Gong. She refused to give in and also asked her family not to blame the two young men for reporting her.
Ms. Sun was taken to Harbin City Second Detention Center on January 22, 2022, and her arrest was formally approved on February 16, 2022. The detention center guards once tied her up and beat her savagely after she refused to wear the inmate uniform and did Falun Gong exercises.
The police submitted Ms. Sun’s case to the Daoli District Procuratorate around June 2022. The Daoli District Court originally scheduled a hearing of her case on November 4, 2022, but postponed it until November 13. None of her family were able to attend the hearing.