80-year-old Woman in Critical Condition While Imprisoned, Dies Days After Being Released on Medical Parole

(Minghui.org)

Name: Li GuibinChinese Name: 李桂彬Gender: FemaleAge: 80City: QinhuangdaoProvince: HebeiOccupation: N/ADate of Death: April 16, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 27, 2018Most Recent Place of Detention: Hebei Province Women’s Prison

A Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province resident was sentenced to four years at the age of 76 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

In mid-April 2023, two years after Ms. Li Guibin was taken to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison, her son was informed by the prison that she was dying. He rushed to the prison and took her to a hospital in Shijiazhuang (where the prison is located) after the prison agreed to release her on medical parole. 

After two days of treatment, Ms. Li was taken back home (about 370 miles from Shijiazhuang) and admitted to a local hospital. She died shortly after on April 16. She was 80. According to someone who saw her body, she was merely skin and bones after two years of imprisonment. It’s not clear what torture she suffered in prison.

Arrest and Sentencing

Ms. Li was arrested on April 27, 2018 while studying Falun Gong teachings with three other Falun Gong practitioners, including Mr. Gao Xingtai, then 65, Ms. Song Hezhen, in her 70s, and Ms. Shang Xiujun, in her 50s.

Both Ms. Li and Mr. Gao failed to pass the physical examination and the Qinhuangdao City No. 1 Detention Center refused to admit them. The police released them and put them under house arrest.

Ms. Shang was held at the Qinhuangdao City No. 2 Detention Center for ten days, during which time she lost more than 20 pounds and suffered severe back pain. She passed away on June 17, less than two months after she was released on May 7. 

Ms. Song’s situation isn’t clear.

The police later submitted Ms. Li and Mr. Gao’s cases to the Li County Procuratorate. Ms. Li was arrested again two more times, on August 20 and again on December 27, 2018. Each time, she was interrogated and released. As she refused to sign the interrogation records, the police signed the paperwork for her against her will.

Due to the constant harassment, Ms. Li developed symptoms of a stroke. She was unable to talk and had difficulty walking for a period of time.

The Changli County Court sentenced Ms. Li to four years in prison with a 10,000-yuan fine, and Mr. Gao to seven years in prison with a 20,000-yuan fine on July 16, 2019.

Ms. Li was summoned to the court on July 27, 2019. As she refused to go, the police came to her home on August 18 to look for her. Upon noticing that she wasn’t home, the police returned the next morning and took her to the police hospital, where she was given a COVID-19 test and was found to have high blood pressure. As the COVID-19 test result wasn’t available right away, Ms. Li ended up staying overnight in the hospital. The next morning, she was given a comprehensive physical examination.

While she was in the hospital, officers took turns monitoring her, even when she used the restroom. After getting her discharged from the hospital the next afternoon, the police said she needed to go to the local detention center just to “go through the formalities.” She told the detention center doctor that Falun Gong cured her colon cancer, which hadn’t improved after six rounds of chemotherapy. The doctor took her blood pressure, which was still very high.

As the detention center refused to admit her, the police took her back home.

Ms. Li was taken back into custody at the Qinhuangdao Detention Center on November 18, 2020 and transferred to the Shijiazhuang Women’s Prison in May 2021. She was denied family visits during the detention. 

Past Persecution

Ms. Li took up Falun Gong in 2003 when she was struggling with late-stage colon cancer. Only days after she read Falun Gong’s teachings, she regained some strength and gradually recovered.

Feeling compelled to speak up for Falun Gong and help more people benefit from it, Ms. Li went out and talked to people about the practice on the street despite the persecution. She was arrested on December 14, 2004. She suffered a seizure at the police station and was released.

Ms. Li was arrested again on October 22, 2005 for talking to people about Falun Gong. Her home was ransacked.

She was arrested three more times, on August 29, 2007, August 23, 2014, and July 27, 2017, also for giving out information about Falun Gong.

Related reports:

78-year-old Woman Imprisoned to Serve a Four-year Term

Crimes of Li Hongzhen, a Guard at Hebei Province Women’s Prison, in Persecuting Falun Gong