(Minghui.org) A Kunming City, Yunnan Province resident was detained for 15 days for distributing calendars with information about her faith in Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yang Lanying, 50, was stopped by a plainclothes officer on December 9, 2019 when she was handing out the calendars. The officer took pictures of materials confiscated from her bag and slandered Falun Gong.
Ms. Yang tried to explain to the man what Falun Gong is about and debunk the communist regime’s propaganda against Falun Gong. He refused to listen and asked her to leave. He also warned her not to distribute the materials again.
Ms. Yang returned home. Hours later, a group of officers broke in. They showed Ms. Yang a search warrant and then ransacked her home. The officers also took pictures of the Falun Gong calendars found at her home.
They brought Ms. Yang to Hongyun Police Station and interrogated her about why she practices Falun Gong. She told them about how her health had improved from the practice.
She was held at the police station until 3 p.m. the next day. The police didn’t provide her with any food and forcibly took her photo and fingerprints during the period, before transferring her to Kunming Detention Center for a 15-day administrative detention.
During this detention period, she was forced to wash the inmates’ clothes in the morning, clean restrooms and cafeteria in the afternoon, and walk around her cell for one hour at night when others were sleeping.
Ms. Yang was released on December 24, 2019.
Past Persecution
Because of not giving up her faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Yang has been arrested multiple times and also given a 21-month labor camp term.
Ms. Yang, a hairdresser, was arrested on March 22, 2008 after being reported for talking to her customers about Falun Gong the day before. The police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong materials.
She was then sent to Marong County Detention Center. The officers ordered her to memorize the prison rules, and threatened to torture her on the tiger benchif she refused. She was not allowed to have a bath either, but could just cleanse her body in the cell with a wet towel. Her family wasn’t allowed to visit her.
After spending a month at the detention center, she was taken to Yunnan Women's Labor Camp to serve a 21-month term. The authorities extended her term three times for a total of 30 days, because she refused to renounce Falun Gong.
In the labor camp, the guards strip searched her. While she was naked, they forced her to squat twenty times. Two inmates closely monitored her around the clock and didn’t allow her to talk to other practitioners.
She was forced to do unpaid labor for more than ten hours every day, including making crafts, packaging cookies, and doing embroidery. In other times, she was ordered to clean the cafeteria and restrooms.
In addition to the intensive labor, the labor camp also forced her to take cold baths in the winter. As a result of the abuse, her heart disease recurred and her legs often hurt badly, leaving her both exhausted and desperate.
Ms. Yang's families also suffered severely due to the persecution. Her husband was so worried about her that he could not go to work. Her mother-in-law’s health declined and she became bedridden. Her daughter became withdrawn and her academic scores declined. Her family also had to close her barbershop, resulting in great financial losses for them.
Ms. Yang filed a criminal complaint in 2015 against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese communist regime who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999.
