Police Harassment Leads to the Death of an Elderly Practitioner

Ms. Ge Yulan, 77, was a Falun Gong practitioner who lived in Zhaojia Village, Zhangxing Town, Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province.

In June 2008, six to seven police officers made a repeat visit to Ms. Ge's home and attempted to arrest her oldest daughter Ms. Zhao Yuhong, who had suffered numerous severe tortures for years because she refused to renounce Falun Gong. Despite Ms. Zhao's absence, the officers ransacked Ms. Ge's home without showing any official documents. They took away Falun Gong books. Ms. Ge's second daughter was at home and protested against this action by the police, but the officers threatened to take her into custody "if she did not shut up."

Afterwards, the authorities stopped Ms. Ge's monthly army pension of two hundred yuan¹, thereby cutting off her living allowance. What the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials had done to her family hurt Ms. Ge greatly. She deeply regretted not being able to safeguard the precious Falun Gong books. She also worried that her daughter would again fall into the hands of the authorities. With so much worry, she developed a serious illness and died on August 3rd, 2008.

Ms. Zhao Jinhua, 42, was also a resident of Zhaojia Village, Zhangxing Town, Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province. On September 27th, 1999, she was arrested by the Zhangxing Town Police for practising Falun Gong. She was tortured to death ten days later. Ms. Zhao's death was the first confirmed death of a Falun Gong practitioner due to persecution, which evoked strong repercussions worldwide. The CCP's brutal actions were condemned by countries and people that upheld justice.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/8/22/184551.html