(Minghui.org) Ms. Liu Xiurong was tried by the Gucheng County Court on April 15, 2016. She was accused of distributing Falun Gong informational materials. Her attorney requested that the trial be adjourned because of Ms. Liu's poor health.
Her family also asked that she be released on bail, but the court and the Procuratorate refused. Ms. Liu is still being held at the Hengshui Detention Center.
Ms. Liu, a Falun Gong practitioner from Gucheng County, Hengshui City, was very healthy before she was illegally arrested. However, eight months of detention and forced labor destroyed her health. Now, she cannot take care of herself and suffers from heart problems. She also developed high blood pressure, and she has become so emaciated and lost so much weight that her family barely recognizes her. A tumor that appeared on her neck is pressuring her nerves and causing her dizziness. Her life is in danger.
Ms. Liu was forced to do hard labor in the detention center. Every day, she has to make a large quota of fake flowers. The chemical formaldehyde, which is on the materials, is so strong that she can hardly open her eyes. It is very hard for her to finish her assigned quota. Further, she often does not have enough to eat.
Arrest
More than 20 police from the Gucheng County Domestic Security Division broke into Ms. Liu's home at 4:00 a.m. on August 21, 2015. Even though they did not have a search warrant, the police ransacked her home and arrested her.
Ms. Liu was taken to a brainwashing class located in the Dongtian Hotel. Three days later, she was transferred to the Hengshui Detention Center. The Hengshui County Procuratorate approved her arrest on September 3, 2015. The Gucheng County Court returned the case to the police department on November 29 due to lack of evidence.
In order to collect some “evidence,” the police interrogated and threatened many villagers and forced them to testify that they received Falun Gong informational materials from Ms. Liu. Her case was submitted to the court again on January 11, 2016.
Multiple Arrests
Ms. Liu was arrested during a mass arrest planned by Dai Guohua, head of the Hengshui City Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC). Under Dai's order, officers from the Domestic Security Division and local police stations broke into the homes of several Falun Gong practitioners in Hengshui City, including Ms. Liu's, around the same time on August 21, 2015. The police arrested 13 practitioners and ransacked their homes.
Mr. Yuan Shuchen, a 65-year-old practitioner from Yuanzhuang Village, was tortured to death that same day. Another practitioner, Mr. Zhang Jinsheng, has swollen legs and can no longer walk due to the persecution.
