How Elderly Practitioner Ms Liu Xingyun Was Persecuted to Death

On November 18th, 2005 Ms. Liu Xingyun, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Tanghai County, Tangshan City, Hebei Province, passed away due to persecution. Before her death, she suffered numerous forms of persecution, such as illegal arrests, detention, extortion, and illegal searches of her home. The day before she passed away, several staff members from the local 610 Office¹ and police department went to Ms. Liu's home to harass her. The Tanghai County Government, county police department and Hu Yuhua, the head of the so-called "Transformation² School" (brainwashing centre) are responsible for Liu Xingyun's death.

Sixty-five-year-old Liu Xingyun used to work for the county's culture department. She started to practise Falun Gong in 1995. She often played Falun Dafa audiotapes and videos in her home so more people could get to know about Falun Gong. Sometimes, her house and front yard were full of people who'd come to listen and watch. She also went to rural areas with practitioners many times, helping to spread Dafa in Tanghai.

Liu Xingyun went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in December 2000, after the vicious Chinese Communist Party started the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. She was arrested by the police and detained at the Tanghai County Detention Centre. Due to the physical and emotional persecution she was subjected to, as well as the fact that she was not allowed to do Falun Gong exercises, Ms. Liu's health deteriorated rapidly and she began to suffer the symptoms of various illnesses. The authorities only released her after they extorted 300 yuan³ from her family. After her release, Liu Xingyun resumed practising the Falun Gong exercises at home, and she gradually regained her health.

In 2001, the police arrested Ms. Liu again and took her to the county detention centre for brainwashing and "transformation." Her health began to deteriorate again, and she suffered several illnesses, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and gastroenteritis. The police were afraid they'd be held responsible for her declining health and had to release her. Before they released her, however, they demanded 5,000 yuan from her family. Her family refused to pay, so the authorities conspired with the operators of the local bank and froze Ms. Liu's retirement fund until they withdrew 5,000 yuan from it.

From 2001 to 2003, the police arrested three practitioners who went to visit Liu Xingyun, either in or near her home. They also illegally searched her home many times, severely traumatising her and her family. Living in these conditions caused Liu Xingyun to suffer increasing social isolation.

In October 2004, policemen from Tanghai County Police Department and Hu Yuhua, the head of the so-called "transformation school" illegally searched Liu Xingyun's home again and attempted to take her to the brainwashing centre for persecution. They ordered her family to pay a "transformation fee" of 4,000 yuan. At the time, Liu Xingyun's husband was bedridden with a broken leg.

This time, the harassment made Liu Xingyun's blood pressure shoot up to 220/140. The perpetrators had to let her go. Several days later, Liu Xinyun was sent to the hospital, and her family spent 40,000 yuan on her medical expenses, a heavy financial burden for them. In the spring of 2005, Liu Xingyun went home from the hospital. Still living in an intimidating environment, she was under a lot of pressure and depressed. She looked senile and was easily agitated. Her whole body was swollen. She had difficulty breathing, and her body ached. Even in this condition, perpetrators such as Hu Yuhua still continued to carry out the persecution against her.

The long-term, nonstop persecution caused Ms. Liu's health to deteriorate rapidly. On October 27th, 2005 she was sent to the county hospital again. She was diagnosed with heart disease, kidney failure, and other complications. She was on the brink of death.

Later, after she recovered a little bit, Liu Xingyun went back home. Local practitioners came to help take care of her, but the perpetrators of the persecution wouldn't allow it. On November 17th, the local 610 Office sent six people from the Political and Security Section of the County Police Department, Economics Bureau, Culture Department, and Chengguan Police Station to her home to monitor her. The harassment went on from 8 to 10 a.m. This was a deadly blow to Liu Xingyun, who was on the verge of death. The next day, she passed away. Three days after her death the police were still monitoring her family, until her body was laid to rest.

Perpetrators:

Tanghai County
Zhao Lixin, Head of the 610 Office: 86-315-8711710, 86-315-8715110, 86-13503154778 (Cell)
Hu Yuhua, Head of the "transformation school": 86-315-8711006 (Home), 86-315-8981610 (Cell)
Tanghai County Police Department
)

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/1/10/118319.html