Guangdong Woman Sentenced to Eight Years for Practicing Falun Gong, Dies Two Days after Being Released on Medical Parole

(Minghui.org)

Name: Li ZhilianChinese Name: 李志联Gender: FemaleAge: 68City: ZhuhaiProvince: GuangdongOccupation: N/ADate of Death: June 8, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 25, 2021Most Recent Place of Detention: Zhuhai City No.1 Detention Center

A Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, woman developed a serious medical condition after being arrested and sentenced to eight years for practicing Falun Gong. The police denied Ms. Li Zhilian’s family visit and didn’t release her until she was on the verge of death. She passed away on June 8, 2022, two days after she returned home. She was 68.

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

Ms. Li developed bone spurs in her knees since she was 18. She also struggled with sinusitis as she grew older. After she took up Falun Gong in 1994, all her symptoms disappeared.

After the onset of the persecution, Ms. Li went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong and was arrested in December 1999. She was taken back to her hometown in Wuqiang County, Hebei Province and held at the Yaoyang County Women’s Prison for 15 days.

Ms. Li was arrested again in late 2001, after she had moved to Zhuhai City. During the one-month incarceration at the Meixi Detention Center, she was forced to work without pay for 12 hours a day, while being starved. She was detained for another month after that and forced to pay 1,000 yuan before being released.

Targeted in a Group Arrest

A group of plainclothes officers showed up at Ms. Li’s home on July 12, 2019. As she refused to open the door, the police cut an opening on her door and broke in. Her Falun Gong books, computer, printer, cellphones, as well as some office supplies, including copy paper and staples, were confiscated. Another practitioner, Ms. Wang Xueqin, who happened to be at Ms. Li’s home when the police came, was also arrested.

The police showed Ms. Li a list of thirty practitioners with their photos at the police station. Ms. Wang was the first on the list. Most of the practitioners were arrested on the same day. 

After a day of detention, Ms. Li was released after paying 3,000 yuan bail bond.

Latest Persecution

Two practitioners were followed by the police when they came to visit Ms. Li on September 25, 2021. The police arrested all three of them and ransacked Ms. Li’s home. The police claimed that they had been monitoring Ms. Li’s daily activities, after she was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. 

One of the practitioners (name unknown) was later released for her advanced age and poor health condition. Ms. Li and the other practitioner arrested at her home, Ms. Li Xiulian, were taken to the Zhuhai City No. 1 Detention Center. 

Ms. Li Zhilian was forced to sit on a small stool and subjected to low temperatures in the detention center. Her health kept deteriorating. The Xiangzhou District Court tried the two practitioners in late March 2022. Ms. Li Zhilian was sentenced to eight years and Ms. Li Xiulian was sentenced to four years.

The sentencing devasted Ms. Li Zhilian further, and the hospital issued a notice of critical condition to her family. When her family asked to visit her, the police, who ordered them to sign her case documents and assume responsibility, wouldn't allow it. The police also ordered her family to pay her 10,000-yuan fine. Her family refused to comply.

Ms. Li’s family wasn’t allowed to see her until June 6, 2022. By then, she was near death and had many tubes inserted into her, yet the police still kept her shackled. 

Ms. Li passed away on June 8, two days after she was taken home.