(Minghui.org) Ms. Wang Wei, 67, from Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, was found to have stroke symptoms and hypertension after she was arrested in July 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, yet the police still kept her in custody, resulting in a fainting episode. Ms. Wang was issued an arrest warrant in September 2024 and now faces indictment for her faith.
Latest Arrest Stems from An Incident in 2020
Ms. Wang’s latest ordeal stemmed from an earlier arrest on April 23, 2020, outside a local supermarket. The police raided her home and ordered her daughter to sign some paperwork. The younger woman refused as she had already been deceived once in 2015 and was unknowingly listed as a witness against her own mother. Officer Jin from the Jiefang Police Station in Sujiatun District swore that he would not add any non-factual information to the statement for her to sign. She then complied.
The police took Ms. Wang to the Shenyang City First Detention Center. She was found to have heart attack symptoms and was denied admission. She was brought back to the Jiefang Police Station. The police tried a few more times to get her admitted to the detention center in the next few days. They failed each time and eventually released her under house arrest.
Two plainclothes officers took Ms. Wang back into custody after 7 a.m. on October 13, 2020. They had her undergo a physical examination and she was again found to be unfit for detention. She was released under house arrest the next night. The police returned around 11 a.m. on May 6, 2021 to conclude the case regarding her April 2020 arrest.
The police took her for a physical examination and a COVID-19 test. She refused to comply and four officers pressed her down. They pulled her mouth open so hard that the corners of her mouth were torn and bled profusely. She struggled to breathe and her head felt heavy and bloated. She was again found to have abnormal heart symptoms. Only then did the police notify her family to pick her up. Her face hurt, and her chest was tight for a long time after that.
Re-arrested in July 2024
Ms. Wang was just leaving her apartment building after 8 a.m. on July 12, 2024, when several plainclothes officers from the Jiefang Police Station, including Song Zhenghe, arrested her. None of them showed their IDs.
Ms. Wang refused to go with them and the police carried her to their cruiser, bruising her arms during her struggle. She was interrogated at the police station, but she refused to answer their questions or sign any paperwork.
Three other officers, two of them in plainclothes, raided Ms. Wang’s home while she was held at the police station. They did not show any IDs or search warrant. They took pictures of the home and threatened her family.
Ms. Wang’s family later asked for copies of her detention notice, arrest warrant, and a list of the items they confiscated, but the police rejected the request and claimed that everything was submitted to the Hunnan District Procuratorate.
The police took Ms. Wang to the Shenyang City First Detention Center shortly after the interrogation session. She was found to have stroke symptoms and a systolic blood pressure of over 200 mmHg (when a normal range is 120 or lower) during the required physical examination. By law, she was unfit for detention, but the detention center still admitted her. Her family soon hired a lawyer to represent her.
Fainting Episode in Detention
When the lawyer visited Ms. Wang at the detention center, he learned that she fainted at one point and was rushed to a hospital for resuscitation. Neither the police nor the detention center notified her family of the situation.
The lawyer immediately contacted the office of prosecutor He Mengyao, who was in charge of the case, and requested that Ms. Wang be released on bail. His assistant said they needed to verify everything with the detention center first. When Ms. Wang’s family followed up later on, His office staff said that neither the police nor the detention center were aware of her fainting episode and suggested that the family have the person who witnessed the fainting episode directly contact the procuratorate.
No one answered the phone when Ms. Wang’s family called the procuratorate afterward. Ms. Wang remained in custody.
Daughter’s Plea Ignored
After Ms. Wang’s latest arrest, her daughter, Ms. Wang Xiaochen, visited numerous government agencies to seek her release, but to no avail. The agencies she contacted included the Sujiatun District Police Department, the Sujiatun District Appeals Office, the Sujiatun District People’s Congress Standing Committee, the Sujiatun District Government, the Jiefang Police Station, the Zhongxing Police Station, the Shenyang City Police Department, the Liaoning Province Public Security Bureau, the Liaoning Provincial Supervisory Committee, the Shenyang City Procuratorate, the Hunnan District Procuratorate, and the Hunnan District Government.
The Sujiatun District Government, the Shenyang City Appeals Office, and the Sujiatun District Police Department, which oversees the Jiefang Police Station, all referred Ms. Wang Xiaochen back to the police station as they arrested her mother and were in charge of the case.
Ms. Wang Xiaochen visited the Liaoning Province Public Security Bureau again on September 12, 2024 to seek her mother’s release. She asked why her mother was still being pursued for her earlier arrest in April 2020. She was asked to go home and wait for a response. She went to the Sujiatun District Police Department the next day. A staffer there said he was actually planning to call her to let her know that her mother had been issued an arrest warrant and that her case was submitted to the Hunnan District Procuratorate. He said it was too late to seek her release now that the case was being actively prosecuted.
This is not the first time Ms. Wang Wei was targeted for her faith, which she credits for restoring her health. She was previously sentenced to one year in prison in 2015.
Life Renewed Through Practicing Falun Gong, Sentenced for Her Faith
Ms. Wang Wei suffered from vertigo and migraine headaches in the past and could not even get out of bed when an episode struck her. The endless pain also made her irritable and unstable, causing a lot of tension at home.
After she took up Falun Gong in 1997, all her symptoms disappeared without medical treatment. She also became a calmer and kinder person. One rainy day her family wondered why she bought so many vegetables. She explained that she felt bad for the vegetable vendor who still had a lot of unsold produce in such bad weather. Another time she paid several hundred yuan to her landlord after her lease expired and a window was found damaged. The landlord later realized that the window was damaged before Ms. Wang signed the lease. He couldn’t believe that she didn’t take issue when he requested compensation for the broken window. Her loved ones said it was because she practiced Falun Gong that she was so considerate.
Ms. Wang was targeted after the persecution began in 1999 and she held firm to her faith. She was arrested on June 29, 2015 and the police seized the 2,000 yuan in cash she had at home. Her daughter was deceived into signing some paperwork and unknowingly listed as a prosecution witness. The aforementioned officer Song submitted her case to the Sujiatun District Procuratorate. The Sujiatun District Court sentenced her to one year in prison without notifying her family. No official document of any sort concerning her prosecution was ever given to her loved ones. Ms. Wang served time at the Shenyang City First Detention Center.
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