Mother Dies 7 Weeks After Being Released on Medical Parole, Son Arrested at Her Wake to Stop Him from Seeking Justice for Her

A Lanzhou City resident serving time for her faith wasn’t released on medical parole until she was in critical condition. She died seven weeks later, and her son was arrested at her wake to stop him from seeking justice for her.

Ms. Sheng Chunmei and her husband, Mr. Chen Deguang, were arrested on November 6, 2011 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. They were each sentenced to nine years in prison on August 9, 2013.

Ms. Sheng was severely tortured at Gansu Province Women’s Prison, and her health quickly deteriorated. She suffered from gallbladder inflammation, high blood pressure, and diabetes, but the prison repeatedly denied her requests for medical parole. She fell into a coma in May 2017 and was sent to the emergency room. Even so, the prison authorities told her family that she wasn’t sick enough to qualify for medical parole.

Several more months went by, and Ms. Sheng was on the verge of death. The prison authorities finally released her on medical parole on August 23. She died on October 12, at the age of 65, while her husband remains incarcerated at Lanzhou Prison.

Ms. Sheng’s wake was held at Hualinshan Funeral Home. Five police officers showed up on the night of October 13 and stayed there until the following morning, when only Ms. Sheng’s son, Mr. Chen Jianru, was around. They seized the young man and took him to Honggu District Police Department, where they interrogated him until 11 p.m. that night.

The police next sent Mr. Chen to the Lanzhou City Drug Rehabilitation Center, where he was detained until October 27.

Mr. Chen was targeted because the police feared that he would go to Beijing to seek justice for his mother ahead of the 19th Party Congress.

He was scheduled to fly to Beijing on October 15 to attend a three-day training session arranged by his employer. Because China’s airlines are required to report passengers’ flight information to law enforcement every three days, the Lanzhou police saw Mr. Chen’s name pop up on the flyers’ list and thought he was going to Beijing to appeal for his mother.

As the 19th Party Congress was scheduled to open on October 18, the Lanzhou Municipal Government issued an order to stop any locals from going to Beijing to appeal around that time.

Wang (newly appointed head of Honggu Domestic Security Office) and Huang Zongjun (deputy head of Honggu Domestic Security Office) acted on the order and led three of their officers and arrested Mr. Chen at his mother’s wake. They didn’t release him until the Party Congress was concluded.