Li Chunxiang

On September 22, 2009, Ms. Li Chunxiang was illegally arrested at her home and brutally beaten by police from the Ningde City State Security Division. Ms. Li was forced to perform manual labor during her imprisonment in Ningde City Detention Center. While there, a guard named Yi Zhuxia struck Ms. Li in the head with such force that she sustained a concussion and was paralyzed as a result. She lay in bed and was unable to move at all.

Even though Ms. Li had been paralyzed, officials at the detention center kept her locked up and did not allow family to visit her for over 30 days. As a way of shifting blame, police from the Ningde City State Security Division told Ms. Li’s husband that she could have been released if he had been able to pay bail.

On November 20, 2009, Ms. Li was carried out of the detention center on a stretcher. While she lay paralyzed in her bed at home, police from the state security division still called her house to harass her.

Ms. Li’s husband took her to Shanghai to seek medical treatment, then returned alone to Ningde City. After studying the Falun Gong books and doing the exercises, Ms. Li slowly regained feeling in her body. Her mind was clear, though she was still unable to walk. However, the police again threatened her on the phone by saying that she would be imprisoned in the forced labor camp if she practiced Falun Gong again. Ms. Li’s condition deteriorated sharply that afternoon due to the stress of enduring more threats. She constantly gasped and was unable to speak. Her family members took her to a hospital in Shanghai that same evening.

At 1:00 a.m. on November 22, 2010, she died in Jiaxing Armed Police Hospital in Shanghai.