Jiangxi Woman Threatened with Prison Sentence and Pension Suspension, for Urging a Police Chief to Stop Persecuting Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) The Chaisang District Police Department and the Shahe Street Police Station, both in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province, recently threatened to put a local resident in jail and stop her pension if she refused to renounce Falun Gong.

The threat to Ms. Li Shuilian, in her 70s, stemmed from a letter she wrote to chief Zhu Xueqian of the Youngxiu County Police Department last year. Youngxiu County is under the administration of Jiujiang City. Upon reading about Zhu’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Youngxiu, Ms. Li urged him in the letter to stop committing crimes against law-abiding practitioners.

Zhu retaliated against Ms. Li instead of heeding her advice. He ordered his police department to work with the Shahe Street Police Station, and arrested Ms. Li at around 5 p.m. on November 15, 2022. The police raided her home and confiscated her computer and other valuables. Ms. Li was held at the police station for one day before being released on 15-day house arrest.

It was learned later that Liu Guodong, secretary of the Chaisang District Political and Legal Affairs Committee, personally visited the Shahe Street Police Station to inspect the case against Ms. Li.

The police also harassed Ms. Li’s son-in-law’s and son’s respective employers for hiring a Falun Gong practitioner’s family members. The employers in turn blamed Ms. Li’s son-in-law and son for not being able to get her to renounce Falun Gong. The two men and their wives all felt tremendous pressure.

The Shahe Street Police Station showed up at Ms. Li’s home again on April 18, 2023. They removed and confiscated the satellite dish she used to receive uncensored news from overseas TV stations. They returned the next day and confiscated Ms. Li’s high-end TV set. Both she and her son were taken to the police station and interrogated. They were not released until after 9 p.m. that day.

An officer called Ms. Li’s daughter recently, and ordered her to pay a 5,000-yuan fine on her mother’s behalf, and to get her to the police station to sign statements promising to renounce Falun Gong. The officer said that Ms. Li would face a prison sentence and pension suspension once the local court received her case and discovered that she had failed to pay the fine or sign the paperwork.

It is unclear whether Ms. Li signed the paperwork or paid the fine.

Ms. Li had been healthy since she took up Falun Gong in 1997, but her health quickly declined and she was twice hospitalized in recent months, as a result of the police harassment and threats.

Past Persecution

Ms. Li’s brother-in-law did Falun Gong exercises at work on the night of March 10, 2002 and was reported to police by a colleague. He was arrested and interrogated at the Nanchang City Railway Police Department (about 80 miles away from Jiujiang City). Under pressure, he revealed his home address. The police raided his home hours later and found several self-adhesive stickers bearing messages about Falun Gong. They interrogated him again and got him to reveal that the stickers were from Ms. Li.

Captain Zhang from the Nanchang City Railway Police Department led five officers and broke into Ms. Li’s home three days later. They didn’t show their IDs or a search warrant. They turned her home upside down but were unable to find anything they wanted. They then proceeded to raid her daughter’s home, but were still unable to find anything that could be used against her.

The police then took Ms. Li to the Shehezhanbei Police Station in Jiujiang City, where they questioned her as to where she got the stickers given to her brother-in-law. She wasn’t released until after 4 p.m. that day.

Ms. Li was arrested again on the night of July 31, 2008 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. Captain Wei Qiang of the Jiujiang City Domestic Security Office took her to his office for interrogation. She refused to answer his questions and was released hours later.

Three community workers harassed Ms. Li at home on August 10, 2020 and photographed her against her will.

On June 18, 2021, officers from the Qilihu Police Station and Qilihu Community Office broke into Ms. Li’s daughter’s home, where Ms. Li and her husband were staying at the time. The police didn’t reveal their names and kept questioning Ms. Li’s daughter about her, in a separate room. They also took photos of Ms. Li’s daughter and her home before leaving without arresting Ms. Li.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Liu Xiaohua (刘晓华), head of Chaisang Domestic Security Office: [phone]Hu Liwen (胡力文), chief of Shahe Street Police Station: [phone]Zhang Guangpu (张光普), instructor of Shahe Street Police Station: [phone]Lyu Zhiming (吕志明), officer of Shahe Street Police Station: [phone] (directly involved in the persecution)