(Minghui.org)
Name: Yang LaixiaoChinese Name: 杨来小Gender: FemaleAge: 64City: N/AProvince: BeijingOccupation: UnknownDate of Death: April 15, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 2, 2022Most Recent Place of Detention: Changping District First Detention Center
A 64-year-old resident of Yanqing District, Beijing, passed away on April 15, 2023, five months after she was sentenced to two years and fined 4,000 yuan for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Yang Laixiao died while she was still under house arrest as her declining physical condition due to long-term persecution had rendered her unfit for detention. The local authorities attempted numerous times to take her back into custody, but she was repeatedly denied admission after failing the required physical examination. The relentless harassment worsened her already frail health and she eventually succumbed to her conditions.
Ms. Yang’s passing capped the two decades of relentless abuse she suffered for upholding her faith. Prior to her latest persecution episode, she was given 1.5 years of forced labor on October 23, 2001 and another 2.5-year forced labor term on December 21, 2004. Her husband, who does not practice Falun Gong, was implicated for supporting her practice. He was once beaten by officer Jiang Shuliang and sentenced to six months on November 10, 2001 for “obstructing the police.” He was fired from his job at a state-owned enterprise and had to do odd jobs after his prison release. He also ended up paying into the pension system himself as his former employer had stopped making contribution.
Details of the Most Recent Persecution Ms. Yang Suffered
A group of plainclothes officers from the Yanqing District Police Department showed up at Ms. Yang’s door on June 27, 2021 and claimed to be from the local department of disease prevention. Her husband believed them and opened the door. The police, all clad in black, barged in with body-cams. They confiscated two printers, two computers, Falun Gong books, and other valuables.
Ms. Yang was arrested while still in her slippers. She was driven straight to a hospital for a physical examination. Despite a blood pressure reading of over 200 mmHg (a normal range is 120 or lower), the police took her to the Nanhu Police Department for interrogation afterwards. A bit past midnight, they drove her to the Changping District Detention Center. She was made to go through another physical examination and denied admission after her blood pressure again registered high readings. The police then took her to the Yanqing District Police Department to process paperwork of house arrest. By the time they drove her home, it was 2 a.m. on June 28, 2021.
About five officers from the Baiquan Police Station seized Ms. Yang from home after 9 a.m. on December 1, 2021. They had an arrest warrant for her and said they came given an order from the Yanqing District Court.
After an interrogation at the police station, Ms. Yang was taken to the hospital for a physical examination. An x-ray indicated that she had bone fractures. She said she took a fall a while ago. The police took her back to the police station for another round of interrogation. At 3:30 that afternoon, they drove her to the Changping District Detention Center, which turned her away after its own physical examination of her discovered even more medical problems.
The police took her to the Yanqing District Police Department for interrogation again before putting her on a six-month house arrest. Her husband was called in to pick her up. The couple returned home at around 8:30 p.m.
Five months into her house arrest, the Yanqing District Court issued an order on April 15, 2022 to take her back into custody. The Changping District Detention Center declined to admit her after she failed the physical examination. She was again put on house arrest.
The court sent in judges and clerks to Ms. Yang’s home on May 12, 2022 to hold a hearing of her case. They again attempted to detain her in July that year, but failed due to her poor health. She was again given house arrest.
The judges came to Ms. Yang’s home again on the night of November 1, 2022, along with a court-appointed lawyer and several officers from the Baiquan Police Station. They conducted a second hearing of her case and threatened to give her 1 to 2 years. Three different officers showed up at around 11:30 a.m. the next day and took her to the hospital for a physical examination. After that, they drove her to the Yanqing District Police Department for interrogation. They then tried the Changping District Detention Center, which again refused to take her after its own examination of her still showed she had health issues.
Ms. Yang was sentenced to two years and fined 4,000 yuan on November 12, 2022. A judge and officer Li Dapeng from the Baiquan Police Station delivered a copy of the verdict to her home that day. She noted the verdict bore the signatures of presiding judge Zhang Zhixiang, judges Zheng Ran and Wang Li, and clerk Ren Xiaoxue.
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