Ms. Liu Meizhang Passes Away After Three Arrests in Three Years

Summary of Key Persecution Facts:

Name: Liu Meizhang
Gender: Female
Age: 69
Address: Mishan City, Heilongjiang
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: November 8th, 2013
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 25th, 2013
Most Recent Place of Detention: Mishan Brainwashing Centre
City: Mishan
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, extortion
Key Persecutors: Yu Xiaofeng, Wang Xiaoping and Fu Xiuli

Ms. Liu Meizhang, 69, was taken to the Mishan Brainwashing Centre on June 25th, 2013, by the local 610 Office agents (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). She was released five weeks later, but was still required to report to the centre on a weekly basis. She died on the morning of November 8th, 2013, after having been arrested three times in three years for her peaceful belief in Falun Gong.

Denied Prompt Medical Care

Ms. Liu fell down around the second week of detention, when she fetched some hot water. Her left shoulder and back were in great pain. She was not taken to the hospital for a checkup.

Ms. Liu was released 36 days later. However, Wang Xiaoping forced her to report to the brainwashing centre every Sunday. Fu Xiuli also monitored her and came to her home every evening in order to prevent her from communicating with other practitioners.

As Ms. Liu's pain continued to get worse, she went to the Mishan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for a checkup on the morning of August 7th, 2013. Realising the seriousness of her injury, the doctor on duty instructed her to go to a larger hospital immediately.

Ms. Liu went to the Renmin Hospital in Mishan City that afternoon. Tests showed that her spleen had ruptured from the fall, and she needed an operation immediately. During the three-hour operation, the doctors found out that she had pancreatic cancer.

On the fourth day after the operation, Fu Xiuli called Ms. Liu and asked why she hadn't reported to the brainwashing centre. Ms. Liu told her that she couldn't go as she was in the hospital. Fu responded, “You must come here even if you are hospitalized.” Wang Xiaoping then called Ms. Liu and told her that she would visit her; she never showed up.

Upon being released from the hospital, Ms. Liu didn't recover and couldn't look after herself. She died around 4 a.m. on November 8th, 2013.

Persistently Persecuted

Ms. Liu was arrested three years in a row because of practising Falun Gong. She was first arrested on July 31st, 2011, and detained at the Mishan Brainwashing Centre for 19 days. She was arrested again on August 8th, 2012, when speaking to people about Falun Gong at a coach station, and held for five days. She was also forced to pay a 500 yuan¹ fine.

Ms. Liu was arrested again on June 25th, 2013, and incarcerated in the Mishan Brainwashing Centre for 36 days. She was released on July 31st, 2013, but passed away just three months later.

The “Art” of Arresting Practitioners

The Mishan 610 Office was set up inside the Jingpinhuyu Restaurant in Sanhe Village in April 2011 for the purpose of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

Before arresting practitioners, staff from the 610 Office orders the head of the residential committee or the head of the village security office to spy on them and report back. Agents from the 610 Office and other collaborators then go to the practitioners' homes or workplaces to carry out the arrests. They don't show any identification and don't inform practitioners' families where they would take them.

The practitioners are taken to a brainwashing centre.

In the brainwashing centre, they are isolated and monitored around the clock, even when using the restroom or taking a shower. There is a camera in every cell, and bars are on the windows. The curtains are closed at all times, so people can't see what's going on inside. There is no sign outside the building identifying it as a brainwashing centre.

Key individuals responsible for Mr. Liu Meizhang's death:
Yu Xiaofeng(于晓峰),director of Mishan 610 Office: +86-13091583339 (Mobile), +86-467-5228610 (Office), +86-467-5241639 (Home), +86- 15146782555 (Mobile),
Wang Kuixiu (王奎秀), deputy Party secretary of Mishan Political and Legal Affairs Committee: +86-467-5241610 (Office), +86-467-5224331 (Home), +86-13946862639 (Mobile),
Wang Xiaoping (王晓萍), staff at Mishan Political and Legal Affairs Committee: +86-13054320510 (Mobile), +86-13946852635 (Mobile),

Note

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