Mr. Li Baishun and His Teenage Daughter Killed in Police Custody in Jinzhou City, His Wife and Sons Unjustly Imprisoned

Mr. Li Baishun, in his 50s, was an employee of the Tiebei Sub-company of the Real Estate Company of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. He lived in the Wenzheng Garden Community of the Linghe District.

Mr. Li was handing out materials to inform people about the persecution of Falun Gong, when he was arrested by police, led by Liu Xiaodong, the director of the Zhengda Police Station around November 20th, 2011. He was taken to the Zhengda Police Station where officers demanded he tell them the source of the materials. They used torture to try to extort a confession, and Mr. Li was tortured to death that night. The relevant departments of Jinzhou City secretly hid this information.

Jinzhou City police subsequently sentenced Mr. Li's wife and two sons to lengthy imprisonment. After which, the mother and brothers learned that Mr. Li's 13-year-old adopted daughter had also died in the custody of the Jinzhou City police. Since they are still imprisoned and no family member of Mr. Li is at home, the detailed information about his and his daughter's deaths and the personnel who participated in this atrocity remain unclear.

The police then notified Mr. Li's family that he “committed suicide out fear of punishment for his crime.” His family members didn't believe it and his wife Ms. Li Yanqiu and their two sons went to the Public Security Ministry in Beijing to appeal. Mr. Li's 13-year-old adopted daughter Li Meijiao was left at home. Li Meijiao had a very good relationship with Mr. Li Baishun, and Mr. Li's death was a huge blow to her. When Ms. Li and her two sons went to appeal in Beijing, Li Meijiao went to the Zhengda Police Station in Jinzhou City to appeal for justice.

When Ms. Li and her sons returned, they found that Li Meijiao was missing. They were later notified by the police at the Zhengda Police Station that Li Meijiao also died at the police station like Mr. Li Baishun. Liu Xiaodong and his accomplices told Ms. Li, “Your daughter poisoned herself to commit suicide and the doctors were unable to rescue her after we took her to the hospital.” He also said, “Your daughter always said 'counter-revolutionary' words,” which revealed their motive for harming her, as it appears she spoke out against the wrongful death of her father and that they retaliated with torture.

Liu Xiaodong deceived Ms. Li into going to the police station on December 18th, 2011, and demanded that she sign the cremation consent form for her husband's remains. Ms. Li said her husband would not have committed suicide and resolutely refused to sign. She was imprisoned for one day and night and was taken to the Jinzhou Detention Centre the next day. After that her two sons were also arrested and taken to the detention centre.

In May 2012, the Zhengda Police Station, Linghe District Police Department, Linghe District Procuratorate, Linghe District Court and Jinzhou Political and Judiciary Committee in May 2012, collaborated to falsely charge Ms. Li and her two sons with the crime of “blackmailing” without any legal procedures. Mr. Li's sons were sentenced to eight years and seven and a half years imprisonment, respectively, and Ms. Li Yanqiu was sentenced to three years and eleven months of imprisonment. Ms. Li is currently imprisoned at the 8 th Prison Ward of Liaoning Provincial Women's Prison in Shenyang City. The whereabouts of her two sons are unknown.

Since the parents of Mr. Li and his wife passed away many years ago, and they didn't have any relatives in the city, Liu Xiaodong chided Ms. Li, “You don't have relatives. We sentenced you to several years in prison and when you are released, who knows what position we will be assigned to by then.”

The police (especially Liu Xiaodong) frequently went to the prison to force Ms. Li to sign the cremation consent form for her husband and daughter's remains. Ms. Li never signed it. One day in 2013 before the Qingming Festival, since the Jinzhou World Exposition drew near, the authorities feared that Mr. Li's case would be exposed during that period, and they exhausted all means to persuade and deceive Ms. Li into signing the cremation consent form. They told Ms. Li, “If you sign it we will immediately bail you out for medical treatment.” Ms. Li still refused to sign. The police then threatened, “We will give you three days to give us your final decision.”

Ms. Li was a former employee of the Jinzhou Gas Company. She had undergone surgery twice for throat cancer and also had heart disease. She presently still takes medicine in prison.

While Ms. Li was in prison, the Jinzhou police collaborated with the prison guards to apply pressure on her to force her to sign the consent. The guard of the 8 th Prison Ward Cui Jie threatened her, “You are not allowed to tell others or other inmates about your family's situation.” Guard Xia Xiaolei said, “Whenever you are willing to sign, I will help you get connected with the Jinzhou police.” Xia also tried to bribe her, “If you sign it, I will give you a 150-yuan bonus.” Every inmate in prison received monthly compensation as a reward for their labor, but Ms. Li never received a penny. Their intention was to make Ms. Li's life more difficult in hopes that she would give in.

At present Ms. Li doesn't even have money to buy toilet paper and is frequently starving. She misses her daughter and husband every day, and would often see them in her dreams, and would wake up in tears.

Among Mr. Li's family of five, two have been tortured to death and the other three have been sentenced to prison. The whereabouts of Mr. Li's remains are currently unknown and Li Meijiao's corpse is still at the Jinzhou City Mortuary.

Liu Xiaodong is a brutal person with a cruel heart. He has killed people, but is free from the punishment of the law. In 2012, he broke into the home of a person with the last name Liu due to a civil dispute, and brutally beat him severely damaging his hip bones. Mr. Liu laid in front of the main entrance of the Jinzhou Police Department to protest. Because Liu Xiaodong had ties with some “top officials,” the Jinzhou Police Department decided to privately settle the case with Mr. Liu, telling him, “If you sue Liu Xiaodong, no one will listen to you. If you don't sue, we will give you 100 thousand yuan¹.” In the end this case was dismissed without a resolution.

Liu Xiaodong has been strictly following the Communist regime's persecution policy against Falun Gong since 1999. He arrested many practitioners and used brutal tortures to extort confessions. He would use any means to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

Li Baishun's family:

1. Li Yanqiu, his wife, age unknown, former employee of the Jinzhou Gas Company. Detained in Liaoning Province Women's Prison.
2. Elder son, name unknown, over 30 years old, born by Li Baishun's former wife. Imprisoned, whereabouts unknown.
3. Younger son, name unknown, about 30 years old, born by Li Baishun's former wife. Imprisoned, whereabouts unknown.
4. Li Meijiao, adopted daughter of Li Baishun and Li Yanqiu, 13 years old. Died in police custody under suspicious circumstances.
5. Li Baishun has an elder brother in Heilongjiang Province, but they haven't been in contact for many years.
6. Li Baishun and Li Yanqiu's parents are deceased. They have other relatives in Jinzhou City.

Relevant departments participating in the persecution:

Zhengda Police Station, Jinzhou City

Linghe District Police Department, Jinzhou City

Jinzhou City Police Department

Linghe District Procuratorate, Jinzhou City

Jinzhou City Procuratorate

Linghe District Political and Judiciary Committee, Jinzhou City

Jinzhou Political and Judiciary Committee

Liaoning Provincial Women's Prison

Tiebei Sub-company of the Real Estate Company of Jinzhou City

Note

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