Mr. Yang Zongquan and Ms. Li Yuzhen Held in Jiaozhou Detention Centre for Two Years, Still Not Released

Falun Gong Practitioners Mr. Yang Zongquan of Wendeng City and Ms. Li Yuzhen of Jiaozhou, Shandong Province, were arrested by officers from the Wendeng Town Police Station on March 29th, 2011. They have been imprisoned in the Jiaozhou Detention Centre for two years. Their families have repeatedly requested that the two practitioners be released. The detention centre has refused to release them.

Mr. Yang's wife took their grandchild to visit him on March 6th, 2013. She asked Jiang Liansheng, the director of the centre, to release Mr. Yang. Jiang immediately transferred the responsibility, saying, “You'll have to ask Qingdao Intermediate Court.” Jiang admitted that he knew Mr. Yang had heart disease, but said Mr. Yang wasn't qualified for release. When asked what the qualification was, Jiang replied, “When he is on the brink of death.” Mr. Yang's wife helplessly left the detention centre with tears in her eye

Ms. Li is her 70s. When her husband, also in his 70s, went to visit her, Jiang started cursing him as soon as he approached the office and threatened to send him to jail. When Ms. Li's husband requested that his wife be released, Jiang said: “Li Yuzhen is healthy. She won't be released even if she were in her 80s. Go ask Qingdao Intermediate Court!”

Mr. Yang Repeatedly Persecuted, Family Suffers

Mr. Yang had been thrown into a forced labour camp for two years in 2006. After he was abducted by police again in 2011, Jiaozhou Court sentenced him to four years in prison in a secret trial. The authorities attempted to throw him into Jinan Prison three times. However, the prison rejected him because of his poor health condition. His wife had to shoulder the farm work and take care of his 80-year-old mother and grand-baby by herself.

Because Mr. Yang was repeatedly persecuted, his family had to sell their cows, which were their only source of income. The authorities also forced the family to pay for Mr. Yang's meals in the detention centre, where Mr. Yang is currently incarcerated. As a result, Mr. Yang's family has been going through extreme hardship.

The detention centre serves poor-quality meals in small portions. Inmates are also forced to do slave labour. In 2011, Mr. Yang was forced to process 4-5 huge bags of peppers every day. His fingers turned purple and were painful at the end of each day.

Every day, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in China like Mr. Yang and Ms. Li are imprisoned in forced labour camps, detention centres, brainwashing centres and mental hospitals for their belief.