(Minghui.org) A Wuhan City, Hubei Province, resident has been detained for more than two weeks following her latest arrest for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Qi Ling, 66, was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong in her neighborhood on the evening of June 5, 2024. Three officers from the Guandong Police Station were staked outside of her home the next morning, in attempt to arrest her. When she didn’t step out during the day, the police broke into her place in the early evening and cut off her water and power supply. Her computer, cellphone, media player and Falun Gong books were confiscated. She has been held at the Wuhan City First Detention Center since then.
Ms. Qi took up Falun Gong in May 1994 and soon recovered from her many ailments, including severe anemia and a stomach condition. For upholding her faith despite the persecution, she has been repeatedly arrested in the past 25 years and was previously given a one-year forced labor camp term and a 3.5-year prison term. Her latest arrest came only four years after she was released from prison.
Past Persecution
Ms. Qi went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on December 8, 1999. She was arrested and held at the Hubei Province Liaison Office in Beijing. The police beat her and handcuffed her behind her back. Officers from the Dongting Police Station escorted her back to Wuhan and held her at the Wuhan City Women’s Detention Center for 27 days.
Ms. Qi was arrested again on May 12, 2000 by officers from the Dongting Police Station. During the seven-month detention at the Wuhan City Women’s Detention Center, she was tied up in a spread-eagle position on a wood board around the clock. The guards stripped her pants and cut a hole in the wood board to collect her urine and excrement.
The Wuchang District Police Department gave Ms. Qi a one-year term at the Hewan Forced Labor Camp in early 2001. She was watched by the labor camp inmates around the clock, forced to watch propaganda materials slandering Falun Gong and ordered to renounce Falun Gong. Her spine was fractured due to the torture and she was incapacitated for six months.
Ms. Qi’s third arrest was on December 10, 2006 for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was held at the Erzhigou Women’s Lockup for fifteen days and then taken to the Yangyuan Brainwashing Center, where she was held for three more days.
Her long term persecution brought tremendous mental distress to her father and took a toll on his health. He passed away in 2008.
Ms. Qi was arrested for the fourth time on December 21, 2013, at her home by officers from the Dongting Police Station and Wuchang District Domestic Security Division. She was held at the Yangyuan Brainwashing Center for an unknown amount of time, during which time she was monitored by the staffers around the clock and ordered to write statements to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Qi’s fifth arrest was on December 23, 2016 by officers from the Ganghua Police Station, after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was sentenced to 3.5 years in the Hubei Province Women’s Prison. She served the full term and was released on June 22, 2020.
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