(Minghui.org) A 48-year-old woman in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province is facing indictment for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Liang Jun was arrested on July 14, 2023 and issued a formal arrest warrant on August 17. The Haigang District Procuratorate is in the process of filing charges against her.
Targeted Weeks Before Arrest
Ms. Liang’s arrest stemmed from a trip she made to the Beidaihe District Police Department in Qinhuangdao City on June 26, 2023. That day, she, Ms. Hong Yanrong, and Ms. Yu Shuyun accompanied 78-year-old Ms. Ni Guiyun to the police department to submit letters and information urging the police not to prosecute Ms. Ni for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Liang, Ms. Hong, and Ms. Yu were harassed shortly after they returned home. Ms. Liang and Ms. Hong were arrested on July 14, 2023, and remain in detention as of today. Ms. Yu avoided being arrested because she was not home when the police came. A fifth practitioner, Ms. Gong Junmei, was arrested while visiting Ms. Liang when the police were still searching Ms. Liang’s home. Ms. Gong was released later in the evening due to her poor health.
According to insiders, the authorities targeted Ms. Liang, Ms. Hong, and Ms. Yu because they feared that Falun Gong practitioners were banding together to raise awareness of the persecution ahead of the annual Beidaihe Meeting (also known as the communist regime’s summer summit) to be held in the Beidaihe District in early August. It is common practice for the regime to intensify persecution of Falun Gong practitioners before major political meetings, such as this summer summit, and around anniversaries related to Falun Gong.
Details of Ms. Liang’s Arrest
Ms. Liang, who lives in Haigang District of Qinhuangdao City, went to a fair in the Funing District of the same city on July 14, 2023. She was talking to other fair-goers about Falun Gong at around 9 a.m. that day, when a plainclothes officer spotted her and called in two carloads of officers. The police handcuffed her and took her to the Fentuo Police Station in Funing District.
The police also towed away Ms. Liang’s car and confiscated her Falun Gong literature and 3,000 yuan in cash.
As soon as Ms. Liang was brought inside the Fentuo Police Station, a female plainclothes officer came up to slap her in the face and kick her. The officer also cursed, “Why don’t you kill yourself?”
When Ms. Liang used the restroom, the woman officer intentionally kept the stall door open. After that, three uniformed male officers took her to a room without surveillance cameras, sat her in a chair, and ordered her to lower her head with her bangs covering her eyes so she could not see who beat her the most. They next started kicking and punching her and didn’t stop until nearly 20 minutes later. Ms. Liang felt her head was about to explode. Her face and arms were covered with bruises.
After the beating, Ms. Liang noted that one of the officers, who wore glasses, was in his 40s, and was about 5’9’’ tall had badge number 097652. The other two officers were in their 20s and weren’t wearing badges.
The two younger officers left the room after the beatings. After a while, the glasses-wearing officer forced Ms. Liang to sit on the ground. He then moved her cuffed hands over her head to her back. He next sat on a raised chair to stomp on the handcuffs for more than ten minutes, causing her excruciating pain.
The Fentuo Police Station turned Ms. Liang over to the Haigang District Domestic Security Office at noon. Around the same time, another group of officers went to her home with the key confiscated from her.
Her daughter, a college student on summer break, happened to be home. Upon seeing that someone was home, the police left and returned two hours later with a search warrant and the property management personnel. They proceeded to raid Ms. Liang’s home, confiscating her Falun Gong books, two laptops, and other personal belongings.
The police produced a list of confiscated items and had a staffer at the property management office sign the document instead of Ms. Liang’s daughter.
That night, Ms. Liang was taken to the Haigang District Police Hospital for a physical examination. When her daughter visited her, the college student noted a policewoman was very rude so she said to the officer, “Ma’am, please do not treat my mother like that. She is a good person.” The officer then changed her attitude and left the hospital room. The few male officers who were there also left.
Ms. Liang’s daughter later talked to Han Feng (+86-16603350451 and +86-3353063419), a vice captain of the Haigang District Domestic Security Office. He claimed that he had no say in the case and that they had already mailed out her detention notice. But Ms. Liang’s daughter didn’t receive anything in the mail. Han also refused to reveal who was in charge of the case or provide any updates.
Ms. Liang asked her daughter to hire a lawyer for her. Her daughter soon found a lawyer. The lawyer visited Ms. Liang and reported that she was in good spirits. The lawyer submitted his paperwork to Han on August 9 and the latter still refused to provide any updates. He claimed that they did not care about any law and referred the lawyer to the local judicial bureau, which said that the case was not their business and thus they had no updates to offer.
The police submitted the case to the Haigang District Procurator on August 10. Prosecutor Li Yulu (in her 50s) said to Ms. Liang’s lawyer that freedom of belief had become outdated, and that they’d prosecute Ms. Liang because the government had banned Falun Gong.
Officer Zhao Jun from the Haigang District Domestic Security Office called Ms. Liang’s daughter on August 17 and asked her to pick up her mother’s arrest warrant.
Daughter Calls for Mother’s Release
Ms. Liang’s daughter recounted how her mother taught her to be a good person, and called for her release. She wrote:
“My parents divorced more than a decade ago. My father remarried and never took care of me. My mom brought me up alone and I love her so much!
“I was very naughty when I was little and my mom used various means to discipline me, but nothing really worked. After she took up Falun Gong, she learned to use its principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to guide me. I gradually learned to be kind, considerate, and tolerant.
“My dad never told me his new address because he didn’t want me to visit him. I was once at my paternal parents’ home when he and his new wife visited. I missed him dearly and was concerned when I noted he was very thin. I asked him why he was so thin and that set off his wife. She flew into a rage and smashed some stuff. I was stunned, and couldn’t believe she would do that in front of my grandparents. I wanted to fight with her but managed to suppress my anger.
“Upon returning home, I was still extremely upset. My mom reminded me to be tolerant and think from my stepmom’s perspective. She might have misinterpreted my concern for my dad as an accusation against her for not taking care of her husband.
“I was grateful that my mom learned Falun Gong and in turn taught me to be a good person. I felt lucky that I didn’t catch the many bad habits, such as drinking and smoking, as many kids my age became addicted.
“I am still in college and with my mom in detention I don’t even know where to find money to pay for my tuition and daily expenses. I demand my mom’s immediate release. There is nothing wrong with following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and being a good person.”
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