(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Guiying, a 53-year-old resident of Changchun City, Jilin Province, was sentenced to four years for her faith in Falun Gong. Her term expired on October 24, 2020. It is unclear at the time of writing whether she has been released as scheduled.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li was arrested on October 25, 2016, by plainclothes officers to meet their quota of arrested Falun Gong practitioners. On July 13, 2017, she was sentenced to four years in Jilin Province Women's Prison, where she was tortured for refusing to renounce her faith.
Because Ms. Li went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, she was denied family visits. On December 18, 2017, Ms. Li was beaten and verbally abused by three criminal inmates. She sustained multiple bruises on her arms.
Ms. Li was often forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. On February 9, 2019, the same three inmates tried to drag her to the front row to watch the video. When Ms. Li resisted, one inmate purposely let go and Ms. Li’s head hit the wall.
The physical and mental torment caused Ms. Li to have dizziness, headaches, and high blood pressure. The inmates covered up the abuses and lied, saying that Ms. Li refused to take blood pressure medicine. Guard Gao Yang threatened to take Ms. Li to the hospital if she refused to take the pills. He ordered other inmates to force-feed her.
Because she refused to give up her belief, Ms. Li was forced to sit on a small bench every day for more than two years after she was admitted to the prison in 2017. The sitting lasted as long as 18 hours straight at the worst.
As a result of the torture, Ms. Li became lame in September 2019 and needed help just to walk. When she refused to sit on the bench. she was locked in a small isolation room for “insubordination” for one month.
When she was taken out of isolation, Ms. Li had a heart problem. Her heart rate was over 130 per minute. She was checked into the hospital in November.
Past Arrests and Torture
Ms. Li worked at the Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Prior to her latest prison term, she was arrested in August 2009 and held in a forced labor camp for 18 months. In September 2012, she was arrested for the second time and sent to a brainwashing center for more than four months to be “transformed.” She was tortured in both places.
Tortured in Heizuizi Labor Camp
Ms. Li distributed informational materials about Falun Gong in a village on the evening of August 16, 2009. Her son, who is not a practitioner but often helped spread the truth about Falun Gong, was arrested that evening and his motorcycle was confiscated.
Ms. Li was arrested the next day and had her home ransacked. In the police car, the officers beat her when she tried to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to them.
Ms. Li was interrogated at the police station. She did not answer any questions but just said, “Falun Gong is practiced in over 100 countries worldwide. The world needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” The following day, she was taken to Weizigou Detention Center. On September 2, 2009, she was taken to Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp and held for a year and a half.
Ms. Li was physically and mentally abused in No. 4 Ward for 40 days. Every day, she was forced to do unpaid labor and listen to two collaborators (former practitioners who had given up their belief under pressure) reading articles slandering Falun Gong. When she was not doing hard labor, several collaborators slandered Falun Gong in front of her and tried to “transform” her. On one occasion, they made her stand up with her face pushed against the wall for a day and a half after she refused to say where she got her computer and printer.
To protest the treatment of another practitioner who was tied to a death bed, Ms. Li and other practitioners conducted a sit-in for three days, June 7-9, in 2010. All practitioners had their terms extended, Ms. Li’s by 13 days.
Because she was exposed to poisonous materials making products for export, Ms. Li’s vision declined and she had other physical problems. On February 1, 2011, she suffered a heart attack due to the workload.
Ms. Li should have been released on March 2, 2011. Instead, she was taken to Xinglongshan Brainwashing Center because she had in her possession a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Gong, and other Falun Gong lectures. Before the brainwashing center transfer, her brother had been threatened by a supervisor where he worked and forced to sign an agreement for her to be sent to the brainwashing center.
In the brainwashing center, three collaborators tried to make Ms. Li renounce Falun Gong but failed. She refused to sign the three statements and insisted that she be released unconditionally. She was eventually forced to sign one guarantee statement against her will, which she later declared null and void.
Ms. Li was finally released on April 15. Upon returning home, she realized that her computer and other Falun Gong materials as well as 3,000 yuan cash had been taken. She asked to have them returned, but the police station denied her claim.
Ms. Li also suffered financial loss. Her employer stopped paying her salary for one year when she was in prison.
Tortured in Fenjin Brainwashing Center
Ms. Li was arrested for the second time in September 2012. After being detained in Weizigou Detention Center for 15 days, she was transferred to Fenjin Brainwashing Center to be “transformed.”
Because she resisted, the guards instigated collaborators to deal with her. They drew a circle and ordered Ms. Li to stand inside it from morning to night every day. This went on for four months--until the brainwashing center was dissolved in February 2013.
Standing for such long periods of time made her legs swell up from the knees down. Her back became stiff and hard and very painful. She was also frequently slapped. On one occasion, she was slapped so hard that she lost her hearing and one tooth came loose. She was also not allowed to take showers or use the restroom as needed.
Ms. Li was also tortured mentally. The collaborators tore pages out of her Falun Gong books and put them in her underwear.
As a result of this incessant torment, Ms. Li lost her vision, hearing, and memory. She became slow to respond. Her hands shook so much she could not hold her chopsticks. She also developed health problems, including frequent urination, low back pain, sensitivity to light, and general weakness. She almost collapsed mentally.
After being released, she had a hard time getting in and out of bed. She often had chest pain. She felt very weak and often fell. Her insomnia worsened. She already had gray hair in her early 40s.
Parties Responsible for Persecuting Ms. Li
Gao Yang(高阳): guard, Jilin Provincial Women's Prison, +086-18504302264
Zhan Weizhong (战维忠): chief, Sijianfang Police Station, +086-15904406439
Song Zhanlong (宋占龙): dean, Academy of Agricultural Sciences, +086-431- 87874222
Related report:
Jilin Woman Forced to Sit on a Small Stool Every Day for Two Years in Prison
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