(Minghui.org) A former nurse in Dalian City has been subjected to brutal torture while serving four years for talking to people about the Chinese communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong, a mind-body practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Ms. Gu Li was arrested in December 2016 and sentenced to prison in May 2017. As soon as she was admitted to Division 5 of Liaoning Women's Prison on September 12, 2017, the guards there instigated inmates to hit her in the face with their shoes, leaving her face bruised.
In their attempt to force her to renounce Falun Gong, guards and inmates stripped Ms. Gu down to only her bra and underwear, forced her to lie on a metal board, and poured ice-cold water on her in the winter. She called out for the officer on duty, but the officer just walked away.
Another time, Ms. Gu was forced to stand by an open window with only one thin layer of clothes. She shivered in the cold. More than once she was forced to squat down for extended periods of time and watch videos slandering Falun Gong.
Arrest and Trial
Ms. Gu, 50, is a former head nurse of Jinzhou Second Hospital in Dalian City, Liaoning Province. She started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. When she told a soldier about Falun Gong at a car repair shop on December 6, 2016, the solider followed her and reported her to the police.
Officers from Guangming Police Station arrested her, ransacked her residence, and kept her at the Dalian Detention Center.
Ms. Gu's lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her during a hearing at Jinzhou District Court on April 28, 2017. She also defended herself by emphasizing freedom of belief and the goodness of her belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
The presiding judge sentenced her to four years and fined her 7,000 yuan on May 19, 2017. Her appeal to Dalian Intermediate Court was turned down on August 19, 2017. She was transferred to prison less than one month later.
Ms. Gu's attorney visited her in prison on February 6, 2018, and submitted a request to review her case at the intermediate court on the next day. The request was denied, and the attorney reviewed the case at the trial court on February 28.
The lawyer proceeded to file a motion to reconsider Ms. Gu's case to Dalian Intermediate Court on March 14. No response has been heard since then.
Tortured Before in Same Prison
This is the second time Ms. Gu has been imprisoned for her belief. She was arrested in March 2008 and sentenced to three years in Liaoning Women's Prison, where she was brutally tortured.
The prison has reportedly used many types of torture methods to inflict harm on detained Falun Gong practitioners. The torture methods include: pouring boiling or ice-cold water on the body, forced injection of nerve-damaging drugs, electric shock batons, force-feeding hot pepper water, inserting hot peppers in the vagina, hanging the body up high, and intensive forced labor.
According to information received by Minghui.org, at least 45 Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives due to torture in this prison. In addition, some practitioners were disabled or suffered mental disorders as a result of the torture.
Related Reports:
Ms. Gu Li and Ms. Qiu Shuping Secretly Sentenced in Dalian City
Ms. Gu Li and Ms. Qiu Shuping Arrested in Liaoning Province
