Corruption plays a role in the ongoing arrests of Falun Gong practitioners and their sentencing to labor camps.

Ms. Li Guihua from Jiujiang City Arrested; Family Pressured to Pay for Her Release

Local police arrested Ms. Li Guihua from Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province in late November of 2009. The Domestic Security Team attempted to extort 100,000 yuan from her family. Ms. Li's whereabouts are unknown.

Ms. Li, 62, was arrested at around noon on November 29, 2009 as she talked to people about Falun Gong at the entrance to the 1st Middle School. Lushan South Road Police Station officers made the arrest and took her to Jiujiang City Detention Center.

When Ms. Li's family went to the Domestic Security Team of  Xunyang District Police Precinct to demand her release, the police ordered her family to pay 100,000 yuan for her release. Ms. Li's family was unable to pay that much., so the police said that they could release Ms. Li if her family paid 10,000 yuan.

Ms. Li was previously subjected to persecution many times. Her family had trouble making ends meet, even before being forced to pay such a large amount of money. The police then said that they would release Ms. Li if her family paid 5,000 yuan. Her family eventually paid the money, and the police promised to release her within a few days. However Ms. Li is still being detained.

Li Ming and Li Jun from the Domestic Security Team told Ms. Li's family on December 28, 2009 that they would not release her, and they would return the 5,000 yuan to her family. When Ms. Li's family asked where she was, Li Jun said that she did not know.

The Domestic Security Team head Li Ming and deputy head Li Jun have actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong since 2001. Dozens of practitioners from Jiujiang City have been subjected to torture, sentenced to prison, incarcerated in forced labor camps and held in detention centers.