(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Li Qinzhou and his wife Zhang Chunmei were both retired workers from Hua County Steel Company of Shaanxi Province. The couple started to practice Falun Gong in 1997 and benefited tremendously. They cared less for personal interest and fame and were always ready to help others. Their high morality won respect from their neighbors.

On March 8, 2000, the couple and their fellow practitioners in the same workplace went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. They were arrested and taken back to their work unit. Later Li Qinzhou was deceived into going to the Hua County Police Department. He was paraded through the streets and put on public trial together with criminals. The police department even videotaped the parade and the trial. Then he was sentenced to one year of forced labor. Five months later, he was released on medical parole.

After Li was released, the police asked him and his wife to report to the police station every day. During the Chinese Spring Festival of 2001, their work unit detained them and several other practitioners working there. Zhou Qingfeng, former director of the local police station, and policeman Zhao Xinmin assisted in the arrest of these practitioners. When the elder couple's daughter, son and son-in-law came from out of town to visit them, they were surprised to find out their parents were detained. Their daughter, who lives in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, could not stand this blow, and fell critically ill after she went back to Wuhan, and was checked into a hospital.

While the couple's daughter was critically ill, Men Longxi, head of their work unit, firmly refused to let them go to Wuhan to visit their daughter. The couple kept reasoning with him, so later he allowed Zhang Chunmei to go see her daughter. But he sent two people to accompany Zhang to Wuhan and also asked her to pay for the two people's travel expenses. However, after Zhang arrived in Wuhan, the two people did not allow her to go see her daughter right away. Instead, they asked her to write a guarantee promising not to appeal for Falun Gong again. Worried about her daughter, Zhang wrote the guarantee. She was also forced to call her work unit every week to report her activities. Later Li Qinzhou also managed to go to Wuhan. While the couple was in Wuhan, their work unit had urged them many times asking them to return to Hua County. Policeman Zhao Xinmin and Liu Guozhen from her work unit even went to Wuhan urging them to return. In order to avoid such harassment, the couple had to temporarily leave their daughter's home and live a homeless life.

On June 19, 2002, a group of policemen suddenly broke into the home of the elderly couple's daughter's. At that time, the couple happened to be there. The police ransacked the home and took away the couple. Li Qinzhou was sent to a prison and Zhang Chunmei was sent to a detention center. After one month, Zhang was released, but Mr. Li was sentenced to 2 years of forced labor. On November 25, 2002, Zhang Chunmei and her son went to visit Li Qinzhou and found he was in a good state. However, 4 days later news came that he had died. Zhang Bingyan, director of the prison, said Li died of a heart attack. At present Li Qinzhou's death still remains a mystery.

People responsible for the persecution of the couple:

Men Longxi, head of Hua County Steel Company

Liu Guozhen: Party Secretary of Hua County Steel Company

Lu Genyin: staff of Hua County Steel Company

Zhou Qingfeng: former director of Hua County police station (He retired already)

Zhao Xinmin: policeman of Hua County police station

Zhang Bingyan: Hua County Prison head