Ms. Gai Yongjie from Qingyuan County Still Detained after Two Months

Ms. Gai Yongjie lives in the Honghe Residential Area, Qingyuan Town, Qingyuan County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province. She was taken away from her home by police in the early morning on September 25th, 2012. Her daughter and relatives went to the Fushun Detention Centre several times requesting to visit her, but the detention centre rejected their requests. Ms. Gai's family has not received any information about her. Her daughter is very worried and cries throughout the day.

Ms. Gai's friends and colleagues saw how such a kind and honest person was arrested and detained, so they signed a petition to call for Ms. Gai's immediate release and the return of all of her property, which had been taken away.

Ms. Gai originally was weak and suffered from many illnesses. She was also bad tempered. She did not have a job for many years after she was laid off. She was addicted to playing Mahjong and asked her mother-in-law to take care of her child. If she saw the child was not happy, she immediately brought the child to her mother-in-law's home and scolded her mother-in-law for not taking care of the child well. After she started to practise Falun Gong, she became healthy and good-tempered. She respected her mother-in-law and her family became harmonious. Three years ago, her husband passed away. Her daughter had just graduated and could not find a job, and the family depended on Ms. Gai's earnings for their living. Although she was pinched for money, she always bought many gifts for her mother-in-law and step-mother during the holidays and on birthdays. She took care of her mother-in-law very well when she was hospitalized.

On September 25th, 2012, at 6:30 a.m, Ms. Gai was about to go out to work with her friend, Xiao Min, when several plainclothes policemen from the Fushun Police Department, the Qingyuan Police Department and the Qingyuan Police Station suddenly rushed into her home and took her away. The police also ransacked the home and took away three bags of her personal property, including a laptop computer, printer, DVD burner, and four or five hundred yuan¹ in cash she had put on a bookshelf. Xiao Min and Ms. Gai's two sisters-in-law were also taken to Fushun by police. Ms. Gai's sisters-in-law were released that night, while Xiao Min was released the next day. Ms. Gai has been detained in the Fushun Detention Centre until now.

On that day, about 20 Falun Gong practitioners from Qingyuan County were arrested. The Fushun Police, the Qingyuan Domestic Security Division, the Qingyuan Police and the Yaozhan Police joined in the so-called Liaoning Provincial F08 Special Action. Actually, the police had already followed and monitored Falun Gong practitioners for three months.

Note

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