(Minghui.org) Ms. Wu Shilian, 46, has been detained for over eight months, since being illegally arrested by police officers from Banqiao Township, Yuexi County, on May 22, 2012. Her family received no verbal or written notice of her arrest. She is currently detained at the Yuexi Detention Center. Ms. Wu was recently secretly sentenced to four years in prison by Yuexi County Court. She has filed an appeal with Liangshan County Intermediate Court.
Prior to the arrest, Ms. Wu had gone to the Zhaojue area to ask for her younger brother Wu Shihai's wages. Mr. Wu, also a Falun Gong practitioner, is blind and cannot take care of himself as a result of being tortured in prison. While trying to help her brother, Ms. Wu was threatened by the Zhaojue 610 Office. After she returned home to Yuexi County, authorities monitored, and in the end, arrested her.
Whole Family benefits from Falun Gong but Is Persecuted
Ms. Wu used to suffer from many illnesses, but they disappeared after she started practicing Falun Gong. Since the communist regime began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Wu Shilian has been arrested many times by the 610 Office for telling people about the persecution. Previously, she was sent to forced labor camps twice, being incarcerated for a total of 3.5 years. She was also subjected to various torture at detention centers and labor camps.
Ms. Wu's mother, Long Tingzhen, is in her 70s. She used to suffer from such severe rheumatism that she had trouble bending her knees and nearly became handicapped. However, after practicing Falun Gong, she recovered from her illness without any medication.
In November 2001, Ms. Wu, her mother, her daughter, and another practitioner were arrested by the Zhaojue 610 Office agents. Their homes were ransacked. Ms. Long was sent to Nanmusi Women's Forced Labor Camp in Sichuan Province, where she was mistreated.
Before her most recent arrest, Ms. Wu was the breadwinner for her family. As a result of her incarceration, her family lost its only source of income.
Younger Brother Blind and Disabled as a Result of Torture
Ms. Wu's younger brother, Mr. Wu Shihai, is 43 years old. He was a teacher at the Zhaojue County Ethnic Middle School in Liangshan Province. He has been persecuted by the Zhaojue 610 Office numerous times since 1999. His wages were reduced and then withheld by his workplace, and he was placed under surveillance. He was detained no less than four times, sent to labor camps twice and imprisoned for 4 years.
At one labor camp, Mr. Wu was forced to run beyond his physical capability and subjected to other forms of physical abuse. He was forced to stand still in military pose continuously from morning until 2:00 a.m. the next day, and sometimes even through the whole night. He was also bound with ropes, shocked with electric batons, force-fed, and subjected to torture. He fainted many times as a result of torture.
In April 2003, he was sent to Mianyang No. 3 Hospital (a mental institution) by the Xinhua Labor Camp officials. While in the hospital, he was injected with drugs that damage central nervous system. He was also force-fed medication. As a result, for a long time, his movements were slow and his reaction was retarded. His facial muscles became slightly paralyzed and numb, and he drooled.
While being detained at Deyang Prison from 2005 to 2009, Mr. Wu's entire body was covered with injuries from being beaten with bamboo sticks. Before his injured legs had a chance to recover, convicts instigated by the guards stepped on his feet, causing six of his toe nails to crack and fall off.
Mr. Wu also bled in both ears as a result of beatings. Because the blood was not drained in time, it became congested inside, causing both ears to harden and form dark red lumps. Due to prolonged abuse, his ears became completely deformed. In addition, two of Mr. Wu's front teeth were knocked out. A deep scar could be seen in the corner of his mouth, and the wounds on his head were clearly visible.
In the prison Ward No. 2, Mr. Wu was beaten until he was covered in bruises, could not speak, and had great difficulty walking. On one occasion, the guards even dragged him into a cell, lifted him high above the ground and then forcefully dropped him. They also instigated criminal inmates to beat him.
Mr. Wu was often not given any food. His hands and legs were shackled, and he was locked up in solitary confinement. Even though it was winter and very cold, he was only allowed to wear a thin layer of clothes. He had to sleep on the cold ground.
Regardless of whether it was spring, summer, autumn or winter, the guards instructed convicts to drag him out every morning at 2:00 a.m. and drench him with cold water. He was sometimes dragged to the toilet and his head shoved down into a basin full of cold water. He was forced to stand still for long periods of time and not allowed to sleep, and if he closed his eyes, the guards beat him about the head with a bamboo stick. Many times his head was covered in blood as a result of the beatings. His tormentors also poked his eyes with their fingers, leading to him to lose his eyesight.
As a result of the prolonged abuse, Mr. Wu became blind and mentally unstable. He lost control of his urine and bowel movements and could no longer take care of himself.
Mr. Wu was finally released from Deyang Prison in 2009. Upon his return home, he fell into a deep slumber for several weeks before he was finally able to get up from bed and eat something. His parents wept upon seeing their son in such a state.
Since his sister, Ms. Wu, has been incarcerated and sentenced to four years in prison, Mr. Wu can only rely on his elderly parents to take care of him. They also have to look after Ms. Wu's adolescent daughter, who has no one else to take care of her.
