Practitioner Li Ying Released after Her Family Demands Her Return

A Falun Dafa practitioner called Li Ying of Jilin City was unlawfully sentenced to two years of forced labour on March 4, 2002 for distributing material revealing the true facts about Falun Gong. She was sent to the Changchun City Heizuizi Forced Labour Camp.

Li Ying suffered from all kinds of torture in the Second Sub-division of Division Two. Repeated brainwashing by the collaborators (former practitioners who turned against Dafa under torture and coercion) and long-term overtime labour could not shake her determination in Dafa cultivation. On March 4, 2004, the end of her two-year term, Li Ying's family went to the labour camp to take her home, but the camp police extended her term, saying the reason was because she did not give up the practice. Facing the further persecution, Li Ying resisted with a hunger strike, demanding her unconditional release. The camp police shouted, "If you do not reform, don't even think about passing through this gate."

A few days later, after her family got the news of her hunger strike, they immediately went to the labour camp, demanding her immediate release. The camp police tried to hide the facts with all kinds of excuses. Her family members questioned the labour camp officials about why they were still detaining her beyond her term and wanted to see Li Ying immediately. After her family's strong requests, the camp officials had to let Li Ying meet with her family. When her family members saw her, she had already become very thin after a few days' hunger strike. She even had difficulty walking and was been forced to have IV drips. Her family returned back a few more times after this, demanding her release. The officials from Division Two found all kinds of excuses to not see them. The police guards lied to Li Ying, "Because you did not become reformed and could not go home, your parents became so anxious that they passed out and had to be taken to a hospital." Li Ying was not convinced by this lie and continued to resist the vicious persecution.

As the labour camp the authorities did not respond to their requests and they were kept unclear about Li Ying's situation, Li Ying's family went to a higher camp authority, requesting her release. They first went to the provincial Party committee and provincial government, requesting to see the provincial Party secretary Wang Yunkun. A military police officer on duty asked about their problem and gave them a telephone number for Wang Yunkun's secretary. Ms. Li's family called the secretary, who did not take the matter seriously and told them, "The Party secretary is busy with many issues each day. If you bother the Party secretary for such small matters, he would not get any other work done." Li's relative was outraged and told the secretary, "My daughter had her detention term illegally extended in the Heizuizi Labour Camp because she is firm in her belief of Falun Gong. She is now on a hunger strike. This is an important matter of life or death. As people's officials, if you do not care about people's life or death, what issue will you deal with? What law has she violated?" After hearing this, the secretary immediately told them on the phone to go to the chief administrator of the Changchun City's Heizuizi Labour Camp in the Jilin Provincial Justice and Law Department to get the problem solved.

When Li Ying's family went to the Jilin Provincial Justice and Law Department, a guard at the gate blocked their entrance. After he learned their visit was regarding a Falun Gong issue, the guard threatened the family and said, "Do not go beyond the security line, otherwise I will arrest you!" Li Ying's family was outraged and told him, "You do not need to threaten us ordinary citizens! Isn't this place the place to find justice? What law did we violate?" As they spoke, they walked over the so-called security line and went straight to the office of the provincial justice and law department.

They found related persons in the office and explained to them that Li Ying had her detention term illegally extended by Heizuizi Labour Camp officials for her determination in practicing Falun Gong, and that she was on a hunger strike and they wanted her immediate release. The justice and law department officials told them, "The reason for not releasing her is her refusal to be reformed and even staging the hunger strike." Li's family said, "Do you have any law to base this on? Can you show it to us?" The provincial justice and law department officials could not answer. They called the labour camp, asking about this issue. The labour camp authorities wanted to avoid responsibility, so they told the justice and law department, "Li Ying has now reformed and stopped her hunger strike. What we had injected into her were nutritional supplements. Let her family come to take her home on March 24 at 8:00 o'clock in the morning. We will definitely release her at that time."

On March 24, Li Ying's family arrived at the labor camp very early, but the labour camp authorities refused to release her with the excuse that no one from Jilin City's "610 Office," the police station or from the residential committee had shown up yet. It was after 1:00 p.m. when people from the police station and residential committee arrived. Then Li's family was able to see Ms. Li Ying. The police did not let Li Ying go home, but instead drove Li Ying and her family to the Beijing Road Police Station in the Chuanying District in Jilin City. After arriving at the station, the police tried to force Li Ying to write a guarantee letter to "quit the practice" and "not to go to Beijing, not to appeal and not to put up truth-clarification material." Li Ying firmly replied, "I will write nothing." Her family also questioned the police, "Do you have any law to back your demands?" The police could not answer but told the family to pay 1,000 Yuan "bail bond" for her release. Facing the police's unjustifiable extortion, her family firmly rejected their demand. Finally, the police station officials had to let Li Ying go home unconditionally.

Telephone for the Beijing Road Police Station, Chuanying District, Jilin City: 86-432-4859570