(Minghui.org) A Linjiang City, Jilin Province resident, was sentenced to six years in prison in January 2024 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Di Lianxia, who has been disabled since childhood due to polio, wasn’t the only one in her family who has been persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. Her husband, Mr. Wang Mingzhi, also a practitioner, served two labor camp terms between 2000 and 2002. He endured relentless torture in custody. Due to his damaged health, he was rejected admission by the forced labor camp when given the third labor camp term in 2011. He passed away on May 20, 2016.
Mr. Wang Mingzhi
Ms. Di’s Latest Arrest and Sentencing
Ms. Di was arrested at home on the evening of July 6, 2023 by Shi Dengfeng, deputy chief of Linjiang City Police Department, five other officers and a residential committee officer. Her Falun Gong books, portrait of Falun Gong’s founder, a printer, and a laptop were confiscated. Around the same time, four officers of the Linjiang City Domestic Security Office also harassed Ms. Di’s mother and raided her home. It’s unknown whether Ms. Di’s mother also practices Falun Gong.
The police held Ms. Di at the Xinshi Police Station for a few hours and released her later that night.
When the police summoned Ms. Di on July 12 to the police station, she decided to live away from home to avoid the persecution. She returned home in early August, only to be arrested by officers of the Linjiang City Domestic Security Bureau. Her family confirmed her prison sentence in late January 2024, but details about her indictment, trial, and sentencing are unknown.
The Couple’s Past Persecution
In 2000, a few months after the onset of the persecution, Mr. Wang went to Beijing to appeal. He was arrested and taken back to Linjiang. He was beaten multiple times while being detained at the Linjiang City Detention Center. He was later given an unknown term at Baishan Labor Camp in Jilin Province. Because he refused to renounce his faith, the guards kept him in a metal cage and shocked him with electric batons.
Mr. Wang went to Beijing in 2002 to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong again. He was given a second term at the Chaoyanggou Labor Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province. The guards carried out a so-called transformation campaign in April 2002, when they intensified the torture in attempt to force the practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. The torture methods included whipping with leather belts, beating with a pickaxe handle or metal pipe, electric shocks, and burning the skin with fire or heated objects. Many practitioners were injured or disabled. Mr. Wang lost consciousness due to the abuse. He was later released on medical parole after contracting tuberculosis.
Torture illustration: beating
The couple was arrested again by Shi Dengfeng, Liu Rumin, and other officers from Linjiang City Domestic Security Office on June 22, 2011. After Mr. Wang was knocked to the ground, one officer stepped on his head while hitting his head and chest. The officer also grabbed Mr. Wang’s head and slammed it against the wall. His face was deformed from the beating. Mr. Wang was later taken to the Linjiang City Police Department, where he was given another round of beatings and handcuffed to a metal chair in the basement. While he managed to escape, he was arrested shortly thereafter.
Ms. Di was given a two-year term at the Heizuizi Women’s Labor Camp. The guards initially refused to admit her due to her disability when she was taken there on July 7, 2011, but they finally accepted her on the insistence of officer Shi.
Liu Yunhui, head of Division One in the labor camp, shocked Ms. Di with an electric baton the following day. On July 9 and 10, Ms. Di was forced to sit still on a small bench or stand for long hours. “I heard you are disabled and cannot stand for a long time,” Liu said to Ms. Di. “But now you have to stand unless I give you permission to sit.”
After three days of torture, the labor camp authorities asked Ms. Di’s family for a copy of her disability certificate and she was finally released.
On the same day that Ms. Di was taken to the labor camp, Mr. Wang was also transferred to the Chaoyanggou Labor Camp, but was rejected admission due to his physical condition. He struggled with declining health in the next few years and passed away on May 20, 2016, at the age of 44.
Key Personnel Involved in the Persecution:
Shi Dengfeng (石登峰), deputy chief of Linjiang Police Department: +86-13894081777Zhang Guoming (张国明), head of the Linjiang City Domestic Security Office: +86-19843098868
Related Report:
Belated News: Father and Son Pass Away Nine Months Apart, from Persecution of Their Shared Faith
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