Sichuan Woman Dies in Custody Ten Months after Being Arrested for Her Faith

(Minghui.org)

Name: Li JihuiChinese Name: 李吉慧Gender: FemaleAge: 61City: PengzhouProvince: SichuanOccupation: N/ADate of Death: January 20, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 1, 2021Most Recent Place of Detention: Chengdu City Detention Center

A Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province resident passed away on January 20, 2022, after being detained for ten months for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. She was 61 years old.

Ms. Li Jihui was arrested on March 1, 2021, when she handed Falun Gong informational materials to a man, without knowing that he was a plainclothes officer. She held a hunger strike at the Chengdu City Detention Center to protest the persecution.

She developed severe anemia in October 2021. Her family applied to have her released on bail so she could receive medical treatment. The detention center denied the request.

A guard informed Ms. Li’s 30-year-old daughter in early January 2022 that she was in critical condition. Her daughter again demanded her immediate release, but was still rejected.

In mid-January, Ms. Li’s daughter was suddenly notified to fill out her bail release document. This time, her daughter insisted that the detention center cover the medical expenses, as Ms. Li developed the condition while in custody. The detention center denied that they bore responsibility for Ms. Li’s medical treatment.

A few days later, on January 20, Ms. Li passed away at the Chengdu Disease Prevention and Control Hospital. Her body was cremated three days later. The detention center paid for her funeral expenses. Officers from the Danjingshan Police Station followed her family throughout the entire cremation ceremony.

Previous Labor Camp Term and Ten-year Prison Sentence

Ms. Li had been repeatedly targeted for her faith since the onset of the persecution in 1999. She served one labor camp term and also ten years in prison.

Ms. Li was first arrested on December 22, 2001, when she demonstrated at Tiananmen Square, appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong. She was taken back to Pengzhou City the next day and held at the Pengzhou City Detention Center. Shortly afterwards, in early 2002, she was given a labor camp term (length unknown). Her husband was dealt a heavy blow and passed away.

Ms. Li was arrested again on June 12, 2007 by the police and local gang members. They beat her and caused her mouth and nose to bleed. She was forced to stand facing a wall as the officers poured water all over her body and threatened to give her another forced labor camp term.

An earthquake hit Wenchuan, about 80 miles from Pengzhou, on May 12, 2008. Shortly after, some medical personnel from Hunan Province came to help care for the locals who were injured in the earthquake. Ms. Li took the opportunity to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to the medical personnel, only to be reported by them and arrested on June 4. She was first held at a brainwashing center and then transferred to the Pengzhou City Detention Center, where the guards kept her hands and feet chained together.

Torture illustration: Hands and feet chained together

Following Ms. Li’s arrest, her daughter, Ms. Li Ya, then 16, had no income to support herself or pay for her tuition. The authorities also withheld the earthquake relief subsidy the teen was entitled to, on the grounds that her mother practiced Falun Gong. She contacted the township head Ma Xiangyou to seek help, but to no avail. She was later taken to her maternal grandmother’s home.

Ms. Li Jihui was sentenced to ten years at the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison by the Pengzhou City Court on March 18, 2009. She was released on June 3, 2018.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Chengdu City Detention Center: [phone], [phone], [phone]Danjingshan Police Station: [phone]Song Wei (宋伟), head of Pengzhou City Police Department: [phone]