(Minghui.org) Three Suining City, Sichuan Province, residents were indicted on September 7, 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Deng Xiugui, 72, Ms. Yang Guihua, 66, and Ms. Du (first name is either Mingfen or Yingfen), 69, were arrested on December 5, 2022 and released on bail that night. The three women submitted a joint complaint against the arresting officers from the Kaixuan Road Police Station and a joint request to not indict them, to more than twelve government agencies, including the Chuanshan District Procuratorate. They never received responses to their complaints or requests.
In their complaint and request, Ms. Deng, Ms. Yang, and Ms. Du reiterated the fact that no enacted law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that they should never have been targeted for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Prosecutor Tian Guangrong of the Chuanshan District Procuratorate and his assistant Luo Dan filed indictments against the three practitioners on September 7.
After the indictment, the three practitioners submitted to the Chuanshan District Court two requests, one to return the items confiscated by police and the other to hold a pre-trial hearing. On September 12, they submitted another request to the Chuanshan District Procuratorate, urging the agency to follow the law and uphold justice for them. It’s not clear whether they had received any response by the time of writing.
Arrest
Ms. Deng was stopped by officer Wang Huan while walking on the street on December 5, 2022, and taken to the street corner. There, she saw Ms. Yang and Ms. Du who were arrested by Wang earlier.
Wang, around 30, was from the Suining City Domestic Security Office. He called the nearby Kaixuan Road Police Station, asking them to take the three practitioners to the police station for interrogation.
Several officers soon arrived and searched the practitioners. Ms. Deng’s home keys and 70 yuan in cash printed with information about Falun Gong were confiscated. The other two practitioners also had some cash confiscated from them, but the amount wasn’t known.
A fourth practitioner, Ms. Tang Jiying, 67, was also arrested on the same day while she was on her way to visit Ms. Du. The 990 yuan cash she had that was printed with information about Falun Gong was confiscated. It’s not clear whether she was taken to the police station for interrogation.
After lunch, Yang Shuai, the director of the Suining City Domestic Security Office, came to interrogate the practitioners. He slandered Falun Gong and threatened the practitioners that they’d violated the law by saying that “Falun Dafa is good.”
In the afternoon, police chief Deng, deputy chief Xie, and officer Xiao continued the interrogation.
Officer Xiao questioned Ms. Deng about her name and address, as well as information about her practicing of Falun Gong. She tried to explain that Falun Gong is freely practiced around the world and is being persecuted in China, but he refused to listen.
Xiao also pressed on, asking Ms. Deng whether she printed the messages on the paper currency herself. She refused to answer the questions or sign the deposition.
At around 4 p.m. the police and residential committee staff members raided Ms. Deng’s home when no one was around. They threw her clothes everywhere and confiscated her dozens of Falun Gong books, three computers, two portable drives, six media players, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder, and three 2023 calendars with information about Falun Gong.
When Ms. Deng’s husband returned home, community officer Deng Haiqin warned him that Ms. Deng wasn’t allowed to practice Falun Gong even at home.
The practitioners’ family members were summoned to the police station at around 8 p.m. and forced to sign their bail release documents. The practitioners returned home in the evening.
Three officers from the Zhenjiangsi Police Station went to Ms. Du’s home on May 2, 2023, and asked her if she still practiced Falun Gong. She said yes and one officer turned on his camcorder and recorder. She immediately stopped him from audio and video recording her. Another officer shined a flashlight everywhere in her two bedrooms. They confiscated her music player and some legal information she printed out.
A third officer flashed her ID without letting Ms. Du see what was on it.
The Kaixuan Road Police Station submitted the case against Ms. Du, Ms. Deng, and Ms. Yang to the Chuanshan District Procuratorate on May 17, 2023. They were deposed by the police station and the procuratorate afterwards.
On June 19, 2023, two community workers, one surnamed Chen and another Deng (no relation), went to Ms. Deng’s home. Chen attempted to take Ms. Deng’s picture but relented after Ms. Deng warned her of the consequences of infringing upon people’s rights.
Past Persecution of Ms. Deng
Ms. Deng was frail and sickly since young. She suffered from many diseases, including hyperthyroidism, tachycardia, rheumatoid arthritis, intractable neurasthenia, allergic rhinitis, and hair loss. Starting around 1990, she would catch a severe cold every spring and autumn. No medical treatment or folk remedy helped and her health continued to deteriorate.
All of Ms. Deng’s symptoms disappeared after she took up Falun Gong in 1997. She also became kinder and more tolerant as she strove to live by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
After the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Deng was repeatedly arrested. She went to visit her sister in June 2000 and was reported for reading a Falun Gong book on the bus. Liang Renyun, a local village official, snatched her bag and ordered her to turn in her Falun Gong book. Ms. Deng, her sister, and another practitioner (surnamed Zheng) were all taken to the Renlong Town Police Station in Pengxi County. After 34 days of detention there, they were moved to the Kaixuan Road Police Station, where they were forced to sign paperwork and each pay 2,000 yuan before being released on bail.
A group of officers from the Suining City Police Department, including Zheng Dashuang and Jiang Qun, raided Ms. Deng’s home on November 23, 2000. She was held at the Chengbei Detention Center for 11 days before being released on bail.
A few plainclothes officers raided Ms. Deng’s home on August 20, 2003. She was interrogated and beaten at the Suining City Police Department, before being transferred to the Lingquansi Detention Center. The police confiscated 5,800 yuan from her home. They claimed that she had intended to use the money to produce Falun Gong informational materials but didn’t provide any evidence for it.
Ms. Deng was later given two years of forced labor. She developed esophagus cancer and was released after 136 days at the labor camp. She was also forced to pay more than 1,000 yuan to cover her living expenses in detention.
The Chuanshan District Police Department raided Ms. Deng’s home on June 28, 2007 and soon gave her one year of forced labor. The local labor camp refused to admit her due to her poor health. The police kept her at a detention center before taking her to a brainwashing center in September 2007. She was released after 153 days of detention there.
A man from the local community called Ms. Deng’s husband on October 13, 2017 and asked him where was his wife. The couple were visiting their daughter in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province at the time. Ms. Deng’s husband passed the phone to her and the caller demanded to know her daughter’s address and phone number. She urged the caller to not bother her daughter and to stop taking part in the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Deng’s husband received a call from an officer of the Guangde Police Station on November 14, 2018. The officer asked if he and his wife were still staying at their daughter’s home.
Ms. Deng was harassed again by the local community workers in 2022.
Past Persecution of Ms. Yang
Ms. Yang was arrested on July 18, 2019 and released that night. The local police harassed her on the phone in late October 2021 and on November 3, 2021. Her home was also raided in November 2021.
Five people from the Zhenjiangsi Police Station and the local community committee showed up at Ms. Yang’s home on August 30, 2022. They questioned her if she was still practicing Falun Gong and attending gatherings with other practitioners. They demanded to have her phone number. She said she did not use a cell phone. They then got her husband’s cell phone number.
Related report:
Suining City, Sichuan Province: Four Elderly Women Arrested in One Day for Practicing Falun Gong
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