(Minghui.org) A Dezhou City, Shandong Province, resident who had been out on bail was taken back into custody on August 31, 2023, and admitted to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison two months later to serve a two-year term, even though she still struggled with severe health conditions.
The sentencing of Ms. Li Junlan, 61, stemmed from her arrest on July 14, 2022, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She fell off her chair during the hours-long interrogation that night as she couldn’t sit upright, while still recovering from a medical emergency she had in 2019 when she tried to stop the police from raiding her home.
Ms. Li was released on bail the night of her latest arrest. She stood trial on March 15, 2023, and was sentenced to two years and fined 10,000 yuan days later.
The police had attempted to take her to the Dezhou City Detention Center after her sentencing, but she was denied admission due to her poor health. Her appeal was rejected on June 29, 2023. After a few more failed attempts to detain her, the police successfully had her admitted to the detention center on August 31, 2023, after the local trial court and appeals court altered her health records to make her “fit for detention.” Ms. Li was transferred to the prison in October 2023.
Arrest and Sentencing
Two officers from the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Office in Dezhou City broke into Ms. Li’s home on July 14, 2022, and arrested her. They claimed that someone had reported her for raising awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Li was interrogated for more than two hours, during which time she was also forced to give a blood sample and give her fingerprints. Still recovering from the aforementioned medical episode, she was unable to sit upright and fell off the interrogation chair. She was unable to move for a long time and the two arresting officers finally helped her get up. They released her later that night and her son had to carry her upstairs to their apartment unit. She remained bedridden for 20 days.
The Economic Development Zone Court held a hearing of Ms. Li’s case on March 15, 2023. She requested that the prosecution witness be called to the stand to accept cross-examination. Presiding judge Lu Jinfeng said he’d arrange that during the next hearing. He, however, notified Ms. Li to pick up her verdict days later, without holding another hearing.
Two Failed Police Attempts to Take Ms. Li Back Into Custody
Shortly after Ms. Li returned home from picking up her verdict, the police showed up and took her to the Dezhou City Detention Center, which declined to admit her after she failed the required physical examination.
Officers Zhao Zhihao and Dai from the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Office came to Ms. Li’s home on April 24, 2023. They said that their higher-ups had forwarded her letter, which she wrote after her prison sentencing to the Dezhou City Intermediate Court, persuading the judge not to participate in the persecution. The higher-ups requested to increase her prison sentence. Ms. Li also urged the two officers to not participate in the persecution of law-abiding Falun Gong practitioners.
Ms. Li returned home on June 29, 2023, to see two people waiting outside her apartment building. One of them was from the Economic Development Zone Court and another from the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Office. They were there to deliver the Dezhou City Intermediate Court’s ruling to uphold her original verdict. She refused to sign the ruling when they ordered her to. They took her to the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Office before driving her to the Dezhou City Detention Center hours later. She again failed the required physical examination and was denied admission. The police sent her home.
Detained After Courts Alter Her Health Records
The police came again to Ms. Li on August 31, 2023, and got the Dezhou City Detention Center to admit her that day. It turned out that the Economic Development Zone Court and the Dezhou City Intermediate Court together altered her health records to make her “fit for detention.” She was moved to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison two months later.
This is not the first time that Ms. Li has been targeted for her faith in Falun Gong, which she credits for giving her a second life.
Taking Up Falun Gong
Ms. Li used to suffer from numerous diseases. The complications from a heart attack were especially debilitating. After she took up Falun Gong in 1996, however, all her symptoms disappeared. She had smiles on her face again and rekindled hope in life. Many of her neighbors joined her in practicing Falun Gong upon witnessing her miraculous recovery.
Falun Gong also turned Ms. Li into a more filial daughter. She took care of her father, who had severe cognitive impairment and physical disability for many years until he passed away two years ago. Her brother and his wife were very grateful because according to local custom, the son in a family should care for his aging parents, not the daughter. Their extended family all knew Falun Gong gave Ms. Li a big heart.
Widowed By the Persecution of Falun Gong
After the persecution began in 1999, Ms. Li went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and was arrested. She was held at the Fengtai District Stadium for one day, during which time she was not allowed to eat, drink, or use the restroom. Her local police picked her up and took her back. She was held at the Ling County Police Department for ten days and forced to listen to and watch anti-Falun Gong materials. While she was in detention, the police forced her husband to turn in all Falun Gong books and the portrait of Falun Gong’s founder. He was so terrified that he stopped practicing Falun Gong. He later developed an incurable disease and died in 2008 at the age of 49.
Detained for 25 Days in 2002
The Ling County Police Department officers broke into Ms. Li’s home in 2002 and took her to the Ling County Detention Center. Ten days later, she was moved to a brainwashing center located in the Guotai Hotel in Dezhou City and held there for another 15 days. Her family was forced to pay 2,000 yuan to the brainwashing center, on top of spending 2,000 yuan on bribing officials to get her released.
Detained for 45 Days in 2009
Ms. Li was riding her electric bike on the street on June 16, 2009, when several plainclothes officers stopped her. They snatched her handbag and electric bike before taking her to the Dezhou City Detention Center. She had a relapse of her heart condition, yet the police still took her to the Jinan City Labor Camp on the 46th day. She was denied admission because of her severe heart condition. Only then did the police release her.
While she was in detention, the police raided her home and confiscated more than 40 Falun Gong books, three portraits of Falun Gong’s founder, 1,500 yuan in cash, two cell phones worth 1,200 yuan, and a wireless Internet card worth 405 yuan. They further extorted 10,000 yuan from her family and 500 yuan from her landlord. Her landlord in turn deducted 500 yuan from her security deposit. In total, her financial loss from this episode of detention was 13,605 yuan (=1,500 + 1,200 + 405 + 500 + 10,000).
Detained for One Month in 2015
On the afternoon of January 12, 2015, Ms. Li was riding her electric bike when she was hit by an unmarked black car from the Songguantun Police Station in the Economic Development Zone. Several officers jumped out and took her to the police station first before driving her to the Economic Development Zone Security Office. The police cuffed her hands to a hook on the wall, rendering her unable to lie down and sleep at night. One day later, she was transferred to the Dezhou City Detention Center. During her one-month detention there, she was forced to glue flowers with poisonous glue for more than ten hours every day, which caused her to cough frequently and her thumbs to become numb.
The police also raided Ms. Li’s home on the day of her arrest. They confiscated three portraits of Falun Gong’s founder, a laptop worth 3,200 yuan, 1,100 in cash, and a new down jacket worth more than 300 yuan. They also forced her family to pay 500 yuan to cover her physical examination and another 150 yuan to pick up her confiscated electric bike.
On the morning of May 14, 2015, two men and one woman from the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Office harassed Ms. Li’s father at his home. He was so terrified that he fell ill. He couldn’t eat or drink for a month and was beyond recognition. Thanks to Ms. Li’s tender care, her then-86-year-old father’s condition improved significantly.
Failed Police Attempt to Arrest Ms. Li in 2016
On the evening of April 22, 2016, the domestic security offices in Decheng District, Lingcheng District, and the Economic Development Zone mobilized its subordinate police stations and dispatched more than 100 officers to arrest local practitioners who had filed criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese dictator who launched the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Li was one of the targeted practitioners. She happened to be out when the police came pounding on her door that night. They then were staked outside her home. A friend happened to visit her and was questioned by the police. After initially letting him go, the police chased him and snatched his bag. After confirming he had no Falun Gong materials in his bag, the police signaled he could leave. They later retreated too without being able to arrest Ms. Li.
Harassed in 2017
A bit past 10 a.m. on April 25, 2017, Ms. Li was cleaning her home when two officers from the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Office and the local street committee security head knocked on her door. Her sister-in-law, who happened to be visiting her, opened the door. Ms. Li locked herself in her bedroom and refused to see the three unwelcome visitors. The trio kept knocking on her bedroom door and she did not let them in. After about ten minutes of standoff, they searched her other rooms and threatened to return that afternoon or evening before leaving.
Hospitalized for 4 Months After Another Harassment Episode in 2019
Several officers from the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Office suddenly broke into Ms. Li’s home on August 8, 2019, to raid her home without showing a search warrant. She tried to stop them and was pushed by officer Zhan Wang. She fell to the ground and had a relapse of her heart condition. She was unable to move.
Officer Zhao Zhihao called in an ambulance to take her to the Dezhou City Central Hospital. She started having a fever and was transferred to the Dezhou City People’s Hospital, before being transferred again to the Lingcheng District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Rehabilitation Center.
Ms. Li ended up being hospitalized for four months and incurred more than 40,000 yuan in medical expenses. The police harassed her four times during her hospitalization. After she was discharged from the hospital, she struggled with mobility issues.
More Harassments Preceding Her Latest Persecution Episode
Despite her condition, the police harassed Ms. Li at home in October 2020.
A bit past 4 p.m. on March 18, 2021, a car with “Economic Development Zone Patrol Officers” written on it pulled into Ms. Li’s residential complex. Two young officers broke into her home. She was not in and her house aide opened the door. The police took pictures of the living room and the bedrooms. They then came out to take pictures of the building entrance. Ms. Li happened to return home at that time. They attempted to take pictures of her and she stopped them. She also refused to read the three forms one of them showed her. They then left.
In November 2021, Ms. Li received a call from an officer. He said that the higher-ups instructed him to “check in on her” and that he had to do his job.
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