Wife's Story of How practitioner Li Liang Died in 2003

Li Liang was a 45 year old Falun Dafa practitioner from Maoming City, Guangdong Province. In May 2003, Li Liang was seized by the "610 Office" because he wouldn't give up practising Falun Gong. He was imprisoned in Sanshui City Forced Labour Camp. He had an extremely hard time there and died on November 26, 2003. Below, Li Liang's wife tells the following story of how he died in the persecution.

Before practising Falun Gong, Li Liang was very ill with hepatitis B. He had to be hospitalized every year and took medicine with him wherever he went. His illness was cured after he started practising Falun Gong in October 1998. He did not need to go to the hospital again, nor did he need to take medicine any more. He kept on reading the Falun Gong books and doing the exercises everyday. His spirits were high and he became more gentle and easy going.

On July 20, 1999, when Li Liang was doing the Falun Gong exercises at People's Square in Maoming City, the police arrested him. They didn't allow him to do the practice any more. They searched our home and confiscated all the Falun Gong books. Later his supervisor often talked to him, urging him to write a statement not to practise Falun Gong any more. Li Liang refused.

On February 3, 2000, only a couple of days before the Chinese New Year, Li Liang was sentenced to one year of forced labour in the Sanshui Forced Labour Camp.

In December 2001, only after they extorted 10,000 yuan from our family was Li Liang set free. Still, the "610 Office" often took him away for brainwashing. He was kept under house arrest many times and was followed by the police whenever he left the house. All this greatly tormented him.

At noon on May 26, 2003, several plain-clothes police officers broke into our house without showing any ID. Two of them handcuffed Li Liang and took him away without letting me see him. The rest of them searched our house without any warrant. They searched for two hours. There were 15 people coming over to search the house, yet none of them showed their ID or wore police uniforms. After they searched the house, they remembered to make a phone call and got a search warrant for me to sign. During that time, there were people constantly coming over to interrogate me. They confiscated our Falun Gong books, tape recorder, mobile phone, telephone contact list, diary, and our house registration record. They took Li Liang and me to a legal school and searched us. I was detained on the third floor, while Li Liang was detained on the second floor. I was detained for 72 hours, being interrogated and insulted every day. One guard said, "Had you been practising Falun Gong, I could beat you to death." I can imagine how the Falun Gong practitioners were tortured. Those detained in that building were all Falun Gong practitioners, one in each room. Thus, they were separated. The guard didn't allow any one to speak. The police even went to the nursery and interrogated our three-year-old son. They also took pictures of him.

The day before I was released, Li Liang was sent to a detention centre. For several months they didn't allow the family to see him, saying they were investigating his case. In September, the detention centre informed me that Li Liang was sentenced to three years of forced labour in the Sanshui Forced Labour Camp.

At around 8 o'clock on November 23 of that year, a man from Sanshui Forced Labour Camp called and informed me that Li Liang was very ill. They asked us to go there immediately. That night we went to Sanshui People's Hospital. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Li Liang. My son said he didn't know this man. He didn't look like his father but like an old man.

Li Liang was only 45 years old. He was skin and bones and couldn't stand steadily. He couldn't eat anything. There were four guards watching him. When I arrived at the gate, an officer was cursing him. I saw that his legs were all swollen and his body was covered with bruises. His belly was swollen. The guards said they were observing humanitarian principles by informing the family. They asked us to take Li Liang home. In order to shirk their responsibilities, they made us sign a document saying that the family strongly requested for Li Liang to be taken home and treated there.

The next day, they sent an ambulance to take Li Liang to the People's Hospital of Maoming City for treatment. It was 8 o'clock in the evening when we arrived at the hospital. The doctor took a look and said it was a miracle for him to arrive in Maoming alive. All we could do was to prepare for his funeral. His liver was swollen and basically destroyed. Blood filled his belly. His private parts were also swollen. I have known Li Liang for ten years and never heard him cry out in pain. Yet on the last day of his life, he cried out: "It hurts so much." He couldn't eat or drink water, nor could he excrete. He couldn't rest still either lying down or sitting up. One can imagine how painful and helpless he was. On the next day at around 12 o'clock midnight, he left the world in pain and tears, leaving his three-year-old son and me. He was also survived by a younger sister who is mentally ill. I didn't know what to do or how to live my life. This is the story of how Li Liang died in the persecution.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/10/29/87886.html