(Minghui.org) Having served 5.5 years for practicing Falun Gong, a Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province resident is facing prosecution again for her faith.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Liu Yurong, a 60-year-old former teacher at Cuiyan Town Middle School, began to practice Falun Gong in September 1997. She credits the practice for curing her conditions in her kidney, stomach and liver.
Ms. Liu was previously arrested in 2008 and sentenced to six years for upholding her faith. She suffered a stroke due to the torture in custody and was released one year ahead of time in 2013. Upon returning home, she was devastated to find that she had been fired by the Linghai City Education Bureau and her 14 years of service was wiped out from pension formula, resulting in no retirement benefits. She did part-time jobs caring for seniors to make a living.
While visiting another practitioner Ms. Kang, in her 70s, on November 27, 2021, to ask for her help to find job opportunities, Ms. Liu was arrested by the police on the lookout. She was put on criminal detention and taken to the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center that evening.
Her family frequented the Beijiao Police Station to seek her release, but to no avail. Officers of Taihe District Domestic Security Office quickly submitted her case to the Linghai City Procuratorate, which approved her arrest soon after.
In order to frame Ms. Liu, Liu Changjie and Li Lei of the Domestic Security Office attempted to force her to plead guilty and admit that she went to Ms. Kang’s home to deliver Falun Gong materials, instead of looking for a job. Ms. Liu refused to comply.
As Ms. Liu was still recovering from the physical damage caused by the torture in her previous prison term, her family is very concerned whether her symptoms would relapse due to the poor living condition and possible abuse she might face following her latest arrest. Both her family and her lawyer kept submitting letters to the police, demanding her release. They also wrote to the Linghai City Procuratorate, urging the prosecutor to withdraw the decision to approve her arrest. Neither the police nor the prosecutor responded to their requests.
Zeng Qiang, a prosecutor at Linghai City Procuratorate, informed Ms. Liu’s lawyer on January 24, 2022 that there was no way for them to release her, but they may consider a lighter sentence against her.
When the lawyer later reviewed Ms. Liu’s case document, he found that the prosecutor charged her with “attempting to commit a crime” due to insufficient evidence. Another prosecutor Ma Liang was also listed on her case. The prosecutors indicated that they would make a recommendation for her prison sentence after coming back from the Chinese New Year holiday break (between February 1 and 7).
It’s reported that Ms. Liu’s arrest was ordered by Wu Yafan, the new director of Taihe District Police Department, and Wang Chao, the political secretary. Another 18 practitioners and their family members were also arrested between November 27 and December 19, 2021.
At the time of writing, nine practitioners, including Ms. Liu, are still detained and facing prosecution. Some elderly practitioners who have been released on bail also had their cases submitted to the procuratorate. At least three of them, including Ms. Kang, in her 70s, Ms. Liu Xianglian and Ms. Zhang Shuyuan, in their 80s, have been summoned to the procuratorate. The prosecutors ordered them to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong, promising lighter sentences or probation if they signed the statements, but heavy terms and pension suspension otherwise. The prosecutors also threatened to block the practitioners’ family members from applying for government jobs if they didn’t renounce Falun Gong.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Wu Yafan (吴亚凡), head of Taihe District Police Department: +86-416-5178899Liu Changjie (刘长杰), head of Domestic Security Office: +86-416-5165688, +86-13904161967Xue Weiwei (薛伟巍), president of Linghai City Procuratorate: +86-416-8182177, +86-416-5528128, +86-13332188885
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related report:
After 5.5 Years of Unjust Imprisonment, Former Teacher Arrested Again for Her Faith
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