(Minghui.org) A 59-year-old resident of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was sentenced to nine years in mid-June 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Du Xiuyan was arrested at home on April 1, 2024, by captain Shi Wei from the Acheng District Domestic Security Division and his deputies Yang Ziheng, Sun Chuanpeng, and a few others. They confiscated her printer, computer, portrait of Falun Gong’s founder, and Falun Gong informational materials.
The Acheng District Court tried Ms. Du in mid-June 2024 and sentenced her to nine years. It is unclear whether this was prosecuted as a new case against her or an existing one relating to when she was put on the wanted list in 2018, as detailed in the next section.
Ms. Du is now serving time in the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Du went to Beijing on November 8, 2000, to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested while unfurling a banner on Tiananmen Square. After one night’s detention in the Xuanwu District Detention Center in Beijing, she was picked up by her husband. After she returned home, officer Yang Zhizhong and Ms. Du’s coworkers harassed her. She was not in at the time, and they banged on the door. They returned a few more times, terrifying her then 13-year-old daughter.
Around 2004, another Falun Gong practitioner was arrested and later hospitalized after 19 days on a hunger strike. Ms. Du went to the hospital to visit her. That night, the hospitalized practitioner escaped. Jia Zhong, director of the detention center where that practitioner was held before being hospitalized, led about 16 police officers to Ms. Du’s home the next day. They accused her of enabling that practitioner to escape and attempted to arrest her, terrifying her elderly parents-in-law who lived with her family.
Ms. Du once ran a successful restaurant with her sister and brother-in-law. Deputy chief Xu from the Hedong Police Station and officers Sun Yanjun and Yang Zhizhong raided the restaurant on August 16, 2006. They also searched Ms. Du’s and her sister’s homes. Ms. Du went into hiding but her sister and brother-in-law were arrested and later sentenced to two and twelve years in prison, respectively. The restaurant had to shut down.
Ms. Du was arrested again in August 2012 while distributing Falun Gong informational materials in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province. She was held in the Ranghulu District Domestic Security Division for several hours and released after 10 p.m.
Ms. Du’s next arrest took place on February 25, 2017, when 14 other local practitioners were also seized during a police sweep. The arresting officers from the Shengli Police Station confiscated many personal items from Ms. Du’s home. She was held in a detention center for 15 days before being released on bail. Her case was submitted to the Acheng District Procuratorate in 2018, with prosecutor Yin Liying in charge.
Judge Wang Weichen presided over Ms. Du’s trail in September 2018. She refused to admit guilt as ordered. While she was allowed to return home after the hearing, Wang issued an arrest warrant for her two months later and threatened to sentence her to 3 to 5 years.
Ms. Du went into hiding on November 8, 2018, and was put on the wanted list. It is unclear whether her latest sentencing had anything to do with the 2018 case.
Ms. Du took up Falun Gong in March 1998 and soon recovered from her gynecological problems, migraines, frozen shoulder, arthritis, chronic constipation, and hemorrhoids. She strove to live by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
Ms. Du’s parents-in-law used to live with their eldest son and helped him raise his two boys. After the kids grew up, Ms. Du’s brother-in-law sold his house and his parents had to move in with his sister’s family.
Ms. Du’s husband proposed selling their old house and getting a bigger one so his parents could live with them. She was hesitant initially as her brother-in-law, the eldest son in the family, should shoulder the responsibility of caring for his parents per Chinese tradition. However, she soon remembered Falun Gong’s teachings and agreed with her husband’s plan. They moved into their new house in 2001 and invited her parents-in-law to live with them. The older couple were deeply touched and their other children also witnessed how Falun Gong had given Ms. Du such a big heart.
While running her restaurant with her sister and brother-in-law, Ms. Du once found a bag with over 20,000 yuan in it. When the owner of the bag returned the next day, she gave it to him after confirming his identity. Another time, a patron gave her 100 extra yuan when paying his bill. She immediately returned it to him. Both customers were surprised by Ms. Du’s kindness because it is commonplace in China to pocket any “extra” money.