(Minghui.org) Because of upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a Shimen County, Hunan Province resident has been repeatedly arrested and detained over the past 21 years. Ms. Tan Xiaolan was given one year in a labor camp and three and a half years in prison. While incarcerated, she was subjected to brutal torture and administration of toxic drugs.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Tan used to suffer from late-stage pancreatic cancer and kidney problems, including kidney stone, renal abscess and urine build-up. All of her conditions disappeared shortly after she learned Falun Gong in 1998. Having been incapacitated for over two years, she returned to farm work with her family. Many villagers were amazed by Ms. Tan's changes and hundreds of them took up Falun Gong within a short time.
Arrested for Appealing for Falun Gong
After the persecution began, Ms. Tan and her mother, Ms. Hou Jinyuan, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in December 2000. At Tiananmen Square, they sat on the ground and staged a peaceful protest by doing the Falun Gong meditation. Within seconds, the police arrested them.
At the police station, Ms. Tan refused to give her name and address because of the CCP's policy of implicating relatives, friends, and co-workers. She was beaten and shocked on the mouth with an electric baton.
Ms. Tan returned to Beijing in January 2001 with several other practitioners. They held a banner that said “Falun Dafa is good” on Tiananmen Square and were arrested immediately.
This time, police from Shimen followed them to Beijing and took them back. Ms. Tan was given one year of forced labor. The officers also paraded her through the streets to humiliate her.
When Ms. Tan was still held at the local detention center, the guards ordered the inmates to urinate on her comforter. When she did the Falun Gong exercises, the inmates pulled down her pants and stuffed them with newspapers. The guards also beat her and stabbed her with a bamboo stick. As Ms. Tan continued to do the Falun Gong exercises, they grabbed her hair and hit her head against the wall or desk.
Before Ms. Tan was sent to the Baimalong Women’s Forced Labor Camp, she had a physical examination and was found to have a life-threatening condition. The police continued to hold her in custody for over a month, before releasing her.
Sent to Brainwashing Center
Ms. Tan was arrested again in 2003 after she was reported for hanging up banners about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder, and some informational materials. She was released a few days later.
Ms. Tan was arrested two more times in 2005 and 2006, and sent to the local brainwashing center. She held a hunger strike after the 2005 arrest and was force-fed with unknown drugs. One month after she was taken to the brainwashing center in 2006, she suddenly became paralyzed on the left side of her body and was unable to move. She suspected that she might have been drugged again.
Sentenced to 3.5 Years
Ms. Tan was summoned to the police station on May 6, 2016, as the police said they had some questions for her. When she arrived, the police took her directly into custody over some information she sent out on the social media platform QQ. Her detention notice had been filled out ahead of time and she was accused of being a cult member, a common charge leveled against Falun Gong practitioners. Ms. Tan refused to sign the notice or acknowledge the defamatory persecution.
On May 18, she was transferred to the Baiheshan Detention Center. Her husband found the police on May 30 and demanded her release, but to no avail.
When her family visited her on June 1, Ms. Tan said that she had been forced to do intensive unpaid labor and wasn’t allowed to sleep if she couldn’t finish the daily quota. The food she was given was no better than pigswill.
Ms. Tan appeared twice in the Shimen County Court, on August 23 and September 21, 2016, before being sentenced to 3.5 years.
Related reports:
Unlawfully Imprisoned Falun Gong Practitioner in Serious Condition, Family Seeks Medical Parole
Hunan Woman Tried for Her Faith Refuses to Sign Altered Court Proceedings
