Heilongjiang Woman Granted Lawyer Visit One Year after Being Admitted to Prison, Vows to Continue Seeking Justice for Her Persecuted Faith

(Minghui.org) After one year of persistent effort despite being given the runaround, Ms. Liu Lijie’s lawyer was finally able to visit her on February 10, 2023, while she was serving a 3.5-year term for practicing Falun Gong. The lawyer renewed his Power of Attorney and will continue to represent Ms. Liu and file a motion on her behalf to reconsider her case.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Liu Lijie

Ms. Liu’s lawyer, her family, and five other lawyers who do not represent her but came to show their support, arrived at the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on the morning of February 10. Moments later, her lawyer Peng was taken to the meeting room on the fourth floor. There were two visitation rooms, one for the lawyers and the other for the inmates’ families.

Ms. Liu’s lawyer and five other lawyers outside of the prison

Ms. Liu came to the room with two guards. She looked emaciated, but was in good spirits.

Peng asked her how she was doing, how many people shared the cell with her, and how the food was in the prison. Ms. Liu told him that she had gained some weight in recent weeks and there were over ten people in her cell.

Upon hearing the lawyer asking her about the food, the guards said, “What can you expect about the food in such a place? It’s good enough if she isn’t starved.”

Peng told Ms. Liu that he, her family, and the five other lawyers had come to the prison several times last year, but were denied visitation each time. They went to the prison administration bureau the day before yesterday, and finally got their visitation request approved. Ms. Liu said she was surprised by the visit and delighted to see Peng. She signed the lawyer’s Power of Attorney and expressed her wish to continue seeking justice. She also asked Peng and her family to take good care of themselves.

Peng said to Ms. Liu that if anyone tortured her, she could just give their names to him and he would file complaints against them. The guards interrupted him and said, “You are the lawyer. You should uphold the law and ask her to reflect on her crime. How can you say such things to her?”

Peng told Ms. Liu that it has been over two months since her family received her letter last time. She said she had been writing letters to them every month. The guards said that it was normal to experience delays of mail delivery during the pandemic.

Finally, Peng told Ms. Liu that the prison had asked her family to apply to install a cellphone app, so they could possibly have video chats with her.

The visitation lasted about 20 minutes.

Arrest and Sentencing

Ms. Liu, a 53-year-old former teacher in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on October 14, 2020 while visiting another practitioner to study Falun Gong’s teachings together. Due to her poor health, she was released on bail two days later.

Ms. Liu appeared twice in the Xiangyang District Court, first on October 12 and then on November 16, 2021, without legal representation. The judge sentenced her to 3.5 years in prison with a 15,000-yuan fine the day after her second court appearance. She appealed to the Jiamusi City Intermediate Court, which ruled on January 12, 2022 to uphold her original verdict.

Despite her high blood pressure and other medical conditions, the authorities took her back into custody on January 12, 2022 and sent her to Huanan County Detention Center (under the jurisdiction of Jiamusi). She was transferred to the Jiamusi City Detention Center on February 12 and then to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on February 18, 2022.

During the month before she was taken to the prison, Ms. Liu’s lawyer Peng and family spent much effort seeking justice for her, only to be given the runaround.

Tortured in the Prison

Upon arrival in the prison, Ms. Liu was first held in quarantine for a few days, then transferred to the third team of strict management on March 5, 2022. As soon as she was taken there, she was deprived of sleep for three days.

The guards forced Ms. Liu to sit on a small stool from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. with no breaks allowed. She had to keep her legs together and her hands on her legs. The long hours of sitting caused her buttocks to become very sore and eventually fester. It also caused her tremendous mental distress.

Ms. Liu was also forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. Because she refused to give in, the guards forced all 21 other inmates in the same cell to sit with her and watch the videos in order to stir up their hatred toward her.

Every night, the guards forced Falun Gong practitioners to do roll call in the hallway. Because Ms. Liu refused to comply, they instigated the inmates to verbally abuse her and make her squat.

Four inmates took turns monitoring Ms. Liu and deprive her of sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, they poured water onto her face and eyes. An inmate named Wang Fengchun slapped her in the face with a shoe, and another inmate, Xu Jun, injured her eyes while beating her. A third inmate, Zhu Yimin, hit her on the nose, causing it to bleed. She also suffered from blurred vision for several days. The fourth inmate, Zhang Yunhui, kneed her back, which was soon covered with bruises.

The inmates also wrote humiliating words on Ms. Liu’s clothes, including shoe insole and underwear, forced her to sit on a washboard or squat, and threatened to stuff her mouth with dirty rags.

Torture reenactment: Sitting on a small stool

As a result of the torture, Ms. Liu developed a fever around December 10, 2022 and also experienced constant pain in her chest and high blood pressure. As she refused to write the annual review to slander Falun Gong, the guards retaliated by forcing her to sit on a small stool for extended hours. The inmates in her cell were also implicated and forced to sit on small stools, as the guards were trying to incite hatred against Ms. Liu.

The practitioners were given only two meals each day, which were barely enough. Those who refused to renounce Falun Gong were also barred from buying extra food or daily necessities. The situation further worsened during the pandemic as many orders couldn’t be delivered on time.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Han Yanwei (韩延伟), president of Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison: [phone]、0451-86639099Shi Genghui (史耕辉), vice president of the prison: [phone], [phone]Tao Shuping (陶淑萍), ward director: [phone], [phone]Pei Tong (裴桐), deputy ward director: [phone], [phone]Li Ying (李莹), deputy ward director: [phone], [phone]Xiao Chang (肖畅), instructor: [phone], [phone]Xiao Shufen (肖淑芬), prison guard: [phone]Yi Jianmin (依建民), director of Heilongjiang Prison Administration Bureau: [phone]

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