(Minghui.org) A Haicheng City, Liaoning Province resident was arrested on July 21, 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Ms. Dong Liping’s lawyer noted that her physical and mental state declined each time he visited her between August and September.
Ms. Dong told her lawyer that her cellmates beat her on a regular basis and forced her to keep eating even after she was full. The detention center guards turned a blind eye to her abuse.
Arrest
Ms. Dong was at home on the afternoon of July 21, 2023 when a police captain knocked on the gate of her fence, which encircles her house. He said he could show her his police ID, but she didn’t open the gate. Five other officers then scaled her fence, two from the east side and three from the west side, and jumped into her yard. They yelled for her to toss her home key to them. She refused to comply, and they smashed the lock and broke in.
The police didn’t answer when Ms. Dong questioned them on why they broke into a law-abiding citizen’s home. They handcuffed her and at one point held her head down on a bed.
Over a period of two hours, the police seized Ms. Dong’s computer, cell phone, Falun Gong books, and other valuables. They took her to the Yingkou City Detention Center.
The Zhanqian District Procuratorate in Yingkou City issued a formal arrest warrant against Ms. Dong on August 25, 2023.
It is unclear why Yingkou City was involved when Ms. Dong lives in Haicheng City. She may have been reported for going to Yingkou and talking to people there about Falun Gong.
Ms. Dong learned later that the arresting officers were from the Gaizhou City Police Department. Gaizhou City is under the administration of Yingkou City.
Abused in Detention Center
Ms. Dong’s lawyer visited her at the detention center on August 28, 2023. She said that she had been on a hunger strike for three days in protest of the persecution. The lawyer noted that she appeared to be very weak.
When the lawyer visited her again on September 6, 2023, he noted that she walked with a limp and was not in a very good mental state. She complained about being beaten and abused by her cellmates on a regular basis. Her cellmates forced her to keep eating when she was already full. The guards did nothing to stop it.
Upon learning of her abuse from the lawyer, Ms. Dong’s family, who had accompanied the lawyer there but were not allowed inside, immediately called the detention center visitors’ office and requested to meet with the director. The receptionist said the director was in a meeting. The family waited outside the detention center and called again hours later. They were told the director was still in a meeting. They then called the detention center’s supervising agencies to report the abuse of their loved one.
At around 3 p.m. that day, two people came outside to see Ms. Dong’s family but repeatedly denied that she was ever abused.
The lawyer visited Ms. Dong a third time, on September 25, 2023, and noted that she appeared to be dazed. She said that she suffered from incontinence a few days ago. She then pointed to her abdomen and said, “I suspect that I have stones here.” Her family was very worried and didn’t know what additional abuse she was subjected to that may have caused her latest symptoms.
Ms. Dong’s mother submitted a request to not indict her with the Gaizhou City Procuratorate after the lawyer’s third visit. It appears that the Gaizhou City Procuratorate has been instructed to take over from the Zhanqian District Procuratorate in Yingkou City. More details of Ms. Dong’s prosecution remain unclear at this point.
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