(Minghui.org) Four Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province residents were arrested on August 12, 2025, for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Chen Jihuan, Ms. Huang and Ms. Duan (the latter two’s first names unknown) were visiting Ms. Li Shuqin when Dongcheng Police Station officers broke in and arrested the four of them. Ms. Li’s place was also ransacked.
Ms. Duan, in her 80s, was released in the evening. As soon as she returned home, the police broke in and raided her home.
While Ms. Chen, 71, was released the next day, the police followed her and arrested her again on August 18. She and Ms. Li are currently being held at the Harbin City Detention Center on criminal detention.
Ms. Huang was released after more than ten days.
Previous Persecution of Ms. Chen and Her Family
Ms. Chen lost her parents when she was 12 and was raised by her older brother Mr. Chen Jizhong. She suffered a severe heart condition and also had an operation on her left hip joint. She was unable to walk very far or do heavy work. In the spring of 1998, she began to practice Falun Gong and soon regained her health. Her brother also took up the practice.
After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution in 1999, both siblings were repeatedly arrested and detained for upholding their faith. While Mr. Chen was serving a six-year prison term, his beloved wife of 30 years froze to death in a rice paddy in 2012 after a sudden seizure.
Ms. Chen went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on May 4, 2000. She was arrested and detained at the Yilan County Liaison Office in Beijing. Nine days later on May 13, she was transferred to the Yilan County Second Detention Center. The police extorted 2,000 yuan from her to cover their travel expenses of going to Beijing to take her back. The detention center extorted another 2,220 yuan from Ms. Chen before releasing her 22 days later.
Ms. Chen was arrested at home on April 25, 2002. After 100 days at the Yilan County Second Detention Center, she was transferred to the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp on August 8, 2002 to serve a three-year term. Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, the guards handcuffed her arms behind her back and then hung her up by the wrists, with her feet completely off the ground. Meanwhile, they shocked her neck and hands with electric batons and beat her. The handcuffs cut into her wrists and the scars are still visible now.
After Ms. Chen was let down, the guards instigated the inmates to watch her. They didn’t allow her to use the restroom or sleep, and forced her to squat on a one-square-foot tile without moving. Due to her previous operation on her left hip, she struggled to stay in a squatting position, and the inmates kicked her when she moved. When Ms. Chen was released in late 2004, officer Li of the Yilan County 610 Office extorted 200 yuan from her son before allowing her to go home.
Ms. Chen and her brother were arrested on the evening of November 30, 2009, after they were reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. They appeared in the Yilan County Court on March 29, 2010. Ms. Chen was sentenced to four years and Mr. Chen received six years.
Ms. Chen was admitted to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on June 23, 2010. She was forced to sit on a small stool motionlessly from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day. When she resisted the persecution, inmate Cui Xiang slapped her in the face, taped her mouth, and kicked her. After that, they tied her up on a bed for four days. Only when she held a hunger strike to protest, did they untie her from the bed.
In addition to torturing Ms. Chen physically, the guards also forced her to watch videos smearing Falun Gong. Because she refused to renounce her faith, the guards isolated her from other practitioners and didn’t allow her to have meals in the cafeteria or buy daily necessities in the prison’s convenience shop. This lasted until the end of her term.
Mr. Chen served time at the Jiamusi Prison. He was almost tortured to death three times. His wife struggled with day-to-day life when he was away. She had a seizure in a rice paddy in late December 2012 while returning home from visiting her nephew-in-law. Her family found her body ten days later.
Related Reports:
Lawyer Defends Mr. Chen Jizhong and His Sister, Ms. Chen Jihuan
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