(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners and Chinese rights lawyers were illegally arrested and beaten by Jiansanjiang police in March, 2014. After the police brutality and abuse of power was reported in and out of China, practitioners in Heilongjiang Province, including Ms. Liu Lijie from Jiamusi City, were arrested. Ms. Liu requested a hearing with the Procuratorate, saying that her arrest was in retaliation for exposing their crimes.

Ms. Liu was arrested on April 3, 2014, and taken to the Jiamusi Detention Center the next day. She has been held there since then.

Ms. Liu Requests Hearing With Procuratorate

Ms. Liu's attorney filed a legal brief along with Ms. Liu's appeal letter to the Xiangyang District Procuratorate on April 30, 2014. The attorney asked the procurator to hold a hearing so that Ms. Liu could have the opportunity to give a statement regarding her case. The attorney stated that putting Ms. Liu into criminal detention was blatant police retaliation, as they suspected her of being involved in the exposure of four lawyers being tortured in Jiansanjiang in March. The attorney also noted that Ms. Liu did not violate any criminal law, did not make or propagate any illegal articles, did not participate in or organize any illegal assembly, and did not make illegal remarks on the Internet or in any other form.

In Ms. Liu's appeal letter, she wrote, “Officials from the Xiangyang Police Department and Jiansanjiang Police Department subjected me to criminal detention, which was clearly done in retaliation for them being exposed for their crimes. I did not make, propagate, publish, upload, or download any illegal information or remarks. I am innocent. Please reject the arrest.”

Detention Center Official Tries to Block Attorney's Visit

While Ms. Liu was being held in Jiamusi Detention Center, her attorney went to visit her on the afternoon of April 15. However, deputy director Huo Youku told the attorney that he did not have permission to visit Ms. Liu, and that it could only be granted by the Jiamusi Police Department. The attorney asked Huo to name the person who refused his request to visit, and wanted a signed document to that effect. The attorney said, “I will take that document and appeal the decision immediately.” Huo made several phone calls, but couldn't get such a document. The attorney was then allowed to meet with Ms. Liu.

Request for Bail Unsuccessful

Ms. Liu's attorney submitted documents calling for Ms. Liu's bail to case officer Zhang Cheng in the Xiangyang Police Department on the morning of April 16.

Ms. Liu's husband and another family member met the head of Jiamusi Police Department Wang Yujun on the afternoon of the same day. Wang told them that Ms. Liu's case was being handled by the Xiangyang Police Department, and then threatened her husband: “You know that your wife is practicing Falun Gong and did not report her to the police. You've committed the crime of concealing a criminal. You are lucky if we don't arrest you.”

Ms. Liu's husband was given the runaround between Xiangyang Police Department and Jiamusi Police Department, as each stated that the other was in charge of the case.

Ms. Liu's family later learned that the criminal detention document had been signed by officer Li Zhuochui from the Xiangyang Police Department.

On April 30, Ms. Liu's attorney and her family checked the bail request status with Zhang Cheng at the Xiangyang Police Department. Zhang said that the city police department had not approved their request for bail.

Ms. Liu's Arrest

Officers from the Jiamusi Police Department, Xiangyang Police Department and Baowei Police station went to Ms. Liu's home around 2:30 p.m. on April 3, 2014. They searched the place, arrested her and her husband Mr. Wang Xu, and took them to the Xiangyang Police Department.

Officer Xie Shiyuan from the Jiamusi Police Department stole the family's money and openly pocketed it while searching their home.

Ms. Liu was cuffed to an iron chair overnight. Many officers interrogated her. She could not identify all of them because her glasses were knocked off. But she was certain that officer Chen Wangyou from the Jiamusi Police Department and some officers from Jiansanjiang were among them.

Ms. Liu was taken to the Jiamusi Detention Center at around 1 p.m the following day. Jiansanjiang police interrogated her there on the afternoon of April 28.

When Mr. Wang Xu was interrogated, the police ordered him to name the practitioners with whom his wife had contact, and demanded that he badmouth Falun Gong. He refused to cooperate, and was later released.

In the days after his release, Mr. Wang went to the police station and police department to ask for his wife's whereabouts. When he asked for the reason for her arrest, an officer said: “You really don't know what your wife did! She was involved in the Jiansanjiang case. It's a big case...”

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