(Minghui.org) It was recently learned that a 54-year-old native of Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province had been admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison to serve time for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Dong Yanmei was arrested at her rental apartment in Anshan City in the same province on September 14, 2022 and taken to the Liaoyang City Detention Center. Her family only recently learned that the Dengta City Court had convicted her, but they still do not know her exact prison term. They also had no clue of when she was transferred to the prison.
According to an insider, Ms. Dong is currently being held in Team Four of Division Eight at the prison. Starting in May 2023, section chiefs Xiao Meiqi and Liu Xiaoyan, as well as captain Yao Lin, barred her from brushing her teeth, washing herself, doing laundry, calling her family, or receiving family visits. They also subjected her to various forms of abuse from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day. They didn’t even give her toilet paper to use.
This is not the first time that Ms. Dong has been persecuted for her faith. She was previously sentenced twice for a total of 11.5 years, and also suffered brutal torture.
Ms. Dong previously worked as an assistant engineer at the Liaohua Polyester Factory. She took up Falun Gong in 1998 and was targeted after the persecution began a year later.
She was arrested at home in January 2002 and taken to the Hongwei District Brainwashing Center, where she was not allowed to sleep for four straight days. After she was transferred to the Liaoyang City Detention Center, she was savagely beaten on many occasions.
The Hongwei District Court sentenced Ms. Dong to a seven-year prison term on April 11, 2002 and she was later admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison in Shenyang (capital city of Liaoning Province).
Prison guards Liu Yingjie and Chen Jing ordered Ms. Dong to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused, they subjected her to various forms of torture. She went on a hunger strike in protest and was tied to a bed in a spread-eagle position. Liu and Chen had inmates insert a plastic tube through Ms. Dong’s nostril to force-feed her for one week. Liu also kicked and punched her hard many times, on top of slapping her in the face repeatedly.
Liu and Chen shocked Ms. Dong with electric batons on many occasions. Another guard, Ma Ying, once poured a cup of water on Ms. Dong to make the electric shock even more unbearable. One time Ms. Dong’s arms were covered with bloody blisters, yet Liu continued to shock her on the neck. The current was so strong that Ms. Dong collapsed on the ground, and an egg-sized blister developed on her neck.
The three guards forced Ms. Dong to do hard labor right after their torture sessions. She developed severe heart disease as a result of the abuse and was rushed to the hospital.
Ms. Dong was arrested again on April 28, 2013 and later sentenced to four and a half years, also at the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Upon her prison admission, she was assigned to the strict management division, where division head Guo Xiaorui, education section chief Li Yan, discipline section chief Chen Shuo, and prison affairs section chief Chen Ying led drug dealer Li Xiaofang and fraudster Li Jing to abuse her.
Ms. Dong developed a mental disorder as a result of the abuse and was moved to Team Four of Division Five. Discipline section chief Li Zhe and captain Meng Yahong led convicted murderer Sun Yazhi to continue torturing Ms. Dong, causing her mental disorder to worsen. They then ordered her to do hard labor. She refused to comply and was given only a meager amount of food every day. She soon became emaciated and withdrawn. She did not say a word for more than a month. The guards took her to a hospital, and she was diagnosed with facial muscle atrophy and clinical depression.
Section chief Chen Ying and captain Li Han ordered Ms. Dong to take drugs that would damage her central nervous system. She refused to comply, and they subsequently threatened to send her to a psychiatric ward. They forced her to watch anti-Falun Gong propaganda and instigated drug dealer Li Xiaofang and fraudster Li Jing to abuse her.
Ms. Dong wrote a statement to renounce Falun Gong when she was struggling with the mental disorder. After she regained mental clarity, she declared that her previous statement was invalid. The guards abused her even more in retaliation, causing her to become mentally deranged for a brief period of time.