(Minghui.org) Ms. Tong Liyan, a resident of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on October 22 for filing a lawsuit against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
Her home was ransacked the next day. Ms. Tong is being held in the Shenyang City Detention Center.
Ms. Tong lost her only child, a boy, in an accident in 1998 when he was playing in the water. She was so devastated that she did not want to live. She tried to kill herself several times, but her family stopped her in time. Her whole family suffered.
A Falun Gong practitioner who knew Ms. Tong's husband gave him the lecture audiotapes of Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, and asked him to play them for her. She had no interest at first. But the part about predestined relationships touched her. She was able to gradually overcome her sorrow and began to practice Falun Gong.
She changed completely. She used to have a very bad temper and often humiliated her husband publicly. But through practicing Falun Gong, she sincerely took care of her husband and mother-in-law. Her family found happiness again.
Shortly after the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, Ms. Tong went to the provincial government office to appeal for the right to practice. Her husband supported her since he was grateful that Falun Gong had helped her. Even though Ms. Tong was pregnant at the time, she was arrested. She was released in the middle of the night.
Despite the persecution, she shared her cultivation experience with neighbors and friends and told people about the persecution. Many of them wanted to read Falun Gong books.
This year, after Ms. Tong filed a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong, officers from the Yuhong Police Station of Shenyang arrested her at home on October 22. They came back again the next day and ransacked her home, storage building, and warehouse. They found some Falun Gong materials and confiscated them.
Ms. Tong was transferred to the the detention center. Her case has been sent to the local procuratorate for approval.