Ms. Lin Shaona Passes Away After being Mistreated in Prison and Denied Medical Parole

Name: Lin Shaona

Gender: Female

Age: Unknown

Address: Unknown

Occupation : Unknown

Date of Death: June 26th, 2013

Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 2nd, 2009

Most Recent Place of Detention: Guangdong ProvinceWomen's Prison
City: Jieyang

Province: Guangdong

Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, imprisonment, torture, denied visitation, and denied medical treatment.

Ms. Lin Shaona was arrested on September 2nd, 2009 for telling people the truth about Falun Gong. Although the judge acknowledged her innocence at her trial, she was nonetheless sentenced to three years in prison at the end of September. She was incarcerated in the Guangdong Province Women's Prison. Her family was notified on February 10th, 2010, that she had breast cancer, and she remained incarcerated after surgery for two more years. When her health condition deteriorated, the prison officials released her to avoid any responsibility. Ms. Lin was unable to recover and passed away on June 26th, 2013.

Falun Gong Saved Ms. Lin

Ms. Lin Shaona was a resident of Jieyang City, Guangdong Province. She had been forced to have an abortion multiple times because of China's birth control policy, and afterwards her health deteriorated. Although her father was a Chinese medicine doctor, he was unable to cure her.

When Ms. Lin visited a relative in 1998, she saw one of her relatives doing the Falun Gong exercises. She was curious and followed along with the movements. Her body became warm afterwards and she felt very comfortable. She then began practising Falun Gong, and all of her illnesses subsequently disappeared.

After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Ms. Lin did not understand why such a good practice was being slandered. She often told people about her own benefits from the practice, and exposed the lies that were being expounded in the media.

Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

Ms. Lin was reported to authorizes on September 2nd, 2009, when she was telling villagers about the truth of Falun Gong and the persecution, in Shanqian Village, Xianqiao Town, Rongcheng District, Jieyang. Officers from the Xianqiao Police Station arrested her, and she was detained in the Jieyang City Detention Centre.

During her detention, her family was not allowed to visit her, and they were not aware of the time of her trial.

The Rongcheng District Court secretly held her trial in late September 2009, without notifying her family or giving her a chance to hire a defense lawyer. Ms. Lin defended herself in court. The judge acknowledged her innocence during the trial, but she was still sentenced to three years in prison, charged with the crime of “undermining law enforcement.” She was detained in the Jieyang City Detention Center.

Forced to Work Overtime and Deprived of Family Visitation

Ms. Lin's family was finally able to meet with her in the Jieyang City Detention Centre on January 5th, 2011, and they were told about her sentence. They also observed that she was no longer in good health. Ms. Lin told them that she was forced to do labour work, with large quotas. She had to work overtime every day to meet the quotas, under extreme high tension, and without much rest. Their meeting was interrupted after a few minutes, and her family did not have a chance to hear the details of her situation.

When her son came home on a winter break, he went to the detention centre to meet her, but the officials at the detention centre refused to let him see Ms. Lin.

Ms. Lin's husband and her son got up very early and went to the Jieyang Detention Centre on January 20th, 2010, but were told that she had been transferred to the Baiyun District of Guangzhou a few days earlier, but no details were provided.

Ms. Lin' family went to the Rongcheng District Court to find out her whereabouts. The officials showed them the verdict and that she was imprisoned in the Baiyun Women's Prison in Guangzhou. When her family questioned the officials as to how Ms. Lin broke the law of “undermining law enforcement,” they quickly brushed it aside. When they requested an explanation of why they were not informed of her trial, they made the excuse that Ms. Lin made such a decision.

Still Not Released After Developing Breast Cancer

Due to long-term torture in prison, Ms. Lin's health condition deteriorated. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, which had already spread. On February 10th, 2010, after her family received a letter about her condition, they immediately went to the prison, but they were only allowed to see through a window from outside.

Her family requested that she be released on medical parole, but Jiang (given name unknown), an officer from the prison 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), rejected their request. Instead, he asked her family to sign documents which authorized sending her to a designated hospital chosen by the prison official, for surgery. Ms. Lin's family did not know the details of her condition and requested to meet the chief doctor first, but Jiang refused to tell them which hospital would perform Ms. Lin's surgery.

It was later learned that Ms. Lin was being detained in the Guangdong Army Police Hospital. She became emaciated, and her chief doctor said that it was too late to have the operation. Ms. Lin's family again strongly requested medical parole, but Jiang still refused.

Ms. Lin was later forced to have surgery and chemotherapy treatment. She suffered greatly after the operation, and her condition continued to deteriorate. After two more years of detention and suffering, she was on the verge of death. To avoid being held responsible, the prison officials released her. Ms. Lin passed away on June 26th, 2013.