(Minghui.org) Two sisters in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, are facing prosecution for their faith in Falun Gong, after the police submitted their case to the procuratorate in August 2023.
The police sought prosecution of Ms. Yang Shuhua and Ms. Yang Shujun, co-owners of a hair salon, after harassing them for three years, trying to pressure them to renounce their faith, which has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Three Years of Harassment
Four community workers went to the sisters’ hair salon around 10 a.m. on September 9, 2020, and demanded to talk to Ms. Yang Shujun. She and her sister asked to see their IDs. None of them did. Many customers in the salon condemned the community workers for harassing the sisters and asked them to leave.
Two officers from the Fuqing Road Police Station pulled up to the salon a bit past 3 p.m. on January 18, 2022. The male officer photographed the exterior of the salon, while the female officer walked inside. She said that the Chinese New Year was coming and she was paying a visit to the sisters.
The sisters asked her which police station she worked for. She didn’t answer, nor did she show her ID when asked. When they asked the officers the purpose of the visit, they didn’t say anything and left after looking around.
Another two community workers showed up around 10 a.m. on March 29, 2022. One of them was a director surnamed Li and he said he was in charge of [persecuting] Falun Gong and asked for the home address of Ms. Yang Shuhua. She refused to answer.
Two officers claiming to be with the Political and Legal Affairs Committee came at 4 p.m. on June 15, 2022 and ordered to talk to the sisters. None of them showed their IDs. The sisters tried to take their photos, but they wouldn’t let them. The male officer then called Tan Shuxian of the Fuqing Road Committee, who had been waiting outside the salon, and asked him to come in. Tan showed his ID. The officers slandered Falun Gong and ordered the sisters to give up practicing it, before they left.
Two months later on the afternoon of August 9, 2022, three more officers came to the salon and looked for Ms. Yang Shujun. They also claimed to be from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. One of them showed the sisters a badge, which only had a photo and his name on the front. The font size of the name was so small that it was illegible. The back of the badge had the words “Care Center,” which are brainwashing centers in disguise created to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The officers began to slander Falun Gong, but the sisters stopped them.
Led by Bao Xiaomu, over ten officers from the Chengdu City 610 Office descended at the hair salon at 3 p.m. on August 25, 2022. Without showing their IDs or a search warrant, they began to raid the place. Ms. Yang Shuhua tried to stop Bao, but the latter shouted at her, “Get out!” Another person held Ms. Yang and warned her that Bao had some physical condition and that she might fall with the slightest physical contact.
Bao ordered a few officers to hold the two sisters and the rest of them continued to search the place, confiscating the sisters’ Falun Gong books, tablets, cell phones, bank cards, IDs, and some cash.
Bao then had a woman in a white coat to measure the sisters’ blood pressure, in preparation to give them COVID-19 vaccine shots. As both sisters were found to have high blood pressure, Bao had to cancel the shots. After the sisters signed the results of their blood pressure as requested, the woman in a white coat produced a piece of paper with scribbled words and also asked them to sign.
Ms. Yang Shujun signed it without looking at it closely. But Ms. Yang Shuhua became alerted and asked that woman what the content was about. The woman said, “Nothing, just sign it.”
Ms. Yang Shuhua insisted that they explain the content to her. They then recounted the three requirements written on it, “1) don’t oppose the Chinese Communist Party or socialism; 2) don’t believe in any cult’s teaching; and 3) don’t participate in any Falun Gong related activities.
When Ms. Yang Shuhua refused to sign the document, Bao threatened to detain her, freeze her bank account, and withdraw 10,000 yuan from it every day. Her bank account would soon be emptied.
As Ms. Yang remained firm in not signing the document, Bao called in officers from the Fuqing Road Police Station. They left only after the police had arrived. The police photographed and videotaped the sisters before taking them to the police station. Ms. Yang Shuhua’s daughter was forced to pay 2,000 yuan as a bail bond. The sisters were released on bail around 8:30 p.m. next day.
A year later on August 2, 2023, police officer Peng Sheng went to the hair salon and ordered the sisters to go to the Fuqing Road Police Station to answer some questions the next day. He said he was being nice to them and if they didn’t go on their own, he would arrest them and handcuff them. If they ran away, he would put them on the wanted list.
Ms. Yang Shuhua went to the police station the next morning, but she refused to sign the document that accused her of violating the law in practicing Falun Gong. Her sister was summoned to the police station in the afternoon. Officer Peng admitted that no law ever criminalizes Falun Gong in China, but he still insisted on sending the sisters to jail.
On August 4, Peng submitted the sisters’ cases to the Chenghua District Procuratorate. Prosecutor Yu Dazhi deposed the sisters on August 11. They refused to answer any questions and submitted written documents urging the prosecutor not to indict them.
Ms. Yang Shuhua called the prosecutor’s office on October 12 to inquire about her case. She was told that the case had been returned to the police for them to collect additional evidence.
Earlier Persecution
The two sisters are natives of Meishan City, Sichuan Province. Shortly after the persecution started, Ms. Yang Shujun’s husband divorced her, as he couldn’t stand the pressure. To make a living, the sisters moved to the capital city of Chengdu and opened a hair salon, enjoying good business.
A group of officers of the Fuqing Road Police Station arrested the sisters on March 6, 2007, and took them to the Pi County Detention Center, where they were held for 37 days. Their mother in her 70s was dealt a hard blow and fell ill. She passed away a year later.
Both sisters were arrested two more times, in March 2012 and June 2013, and held in the Xinjin Brainwashing Center. Their aunt and uncle were terrified by their 2012 arrests and died as a result of the mental distress. Ms. Yang Shuhua’s school-aged daughter was left to fend for herself when she and her sister were detained. The police also extorted the sisters’ brother and threatened to arrest him and prevent him from running his family business.
The sisters were arrested another time on September 15, 2015, and had their Falun Gong books confiscated.
Related reports:
Authorities Persecute Two Sisters That Run a Respectable Business
Ms. Yang and Her Sister from Chengdu City Arrested Again, Fuqinglu Police Station Responsible
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