Older Practitioner, Ms. Li Xiuju from Shandong Province, Died As a Result of Persecution in 2002

Ms. Li Xiuju lived in Longwan Village, Cuijiayu Town, Yishui County, Linyi City, Shandong Province. Before practising Falun Gong, she had many diseases such as chronic pulmonary emphysema, migraines, pains in her back and legs, high blood pressure, brain thrombus and so on. However, not long after she started practising Falun Gong in 1998, all her problems were gone. She became energetic and was able to help her husband on the farm.

After July 20th, 1999, Zhang Dezhi, following Jiang Zemin's regime closely, led a group of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members in Cuijiayu Town and arrested Falun Gong practitioners in the town. They held a so-called "study class" in the town middle school to brainwash practitioners. They beat and yelled at them in order to get "guarantee statements¹" and money from them.

On the afternoon of December 26th, 2000, when Wu Guangzhen and Li Xiuju went to Guohuyu Village, Xiawei Town to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution, they were reported to police. Several policemen arrested them. In order to know where they were from, police tortured the two during the night. The next day, Wu Guangzhen and Li Xiuju were taken to Cuijiayu Town Police Station. Police tortured them again in order to find out where they got the leaflets. They slapped their faces, punched them and beat them with a police baton. They forced them to denounce Dafa and to write the Three Statements². They cheated the family members by having the village leaders offer an immediate release if each family paid 1,200 Yuan³. However, when the money was handed over, they said that the two had been sent to Yishui Detention Centre on December 28th. Each family paid the blackmail money but were unable to get the two released.

For more than a month in the detention centre, Wu Guangzhen and Li Xiuju suffered all kinds of inhuman torture. But they still firmly believed in Dafa. They were then sent for brainwashing. The treatments there were more severe. The hatchet men tortured them every day, lashing them with bamboo strips, beating them with batons, shocking them, pouring ice cold water on them, putting salt on their wounds; they were also made to stand straight, run or do push-ups for an extended time..

One evening in February 2001, Hao Quijin and three other drunken thugs came to the room where women practitioners were detained and took Wu Guangzhen. Li Xiujiu and other practitioners were concerned and followed them. One of the men threw Teacher's [Teacher Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa] picture on the ground and ordered Wu Guangzhen to step on the picture. She knelt down in front the picture and refused. The four thugs kept kicking her until they were tired from beating her. When Wu Guangzhen lost conscious, they yelled at her and poured cold water on her body on a freezing winter day.

Li Xiujiu and others kept calling Wu Guangzhen's name. After a long time, Wu Guangzhen finally woke up and was taken into the room. She was semi-conscious during the night. The next day, seeing Wu's body covered with bruises and her swollen head and face, Li Xiuju cried and denounced their conduct while her body kept shaking. Shortly afterwards, she fell down to the ground and her four limbs became numb. The thugs were afraid to take responsibility and told Li's family to take her back. Li Xiuju was taken to the hospital by her family and there was no improvement after more than 10 days of treatment. Since her family had been fined several times and had difficulty paying the medical bill, she was taken home after the family borrowed money to pay the hospital.

After Li Xiuju was released, Zhang Dezhi and other thugs kept harassing her family and checking to see if she was at home and if she still practised Falun Gong. They also kept harassing other practitioners. In June 2001, Zhang Dezhi led Huang Xiujun, Zhang Shiye and other thugs to conduct a housing search on practitioners three times. During each search, they came to a practitioner's home, usually at midnight so no one got any sleep the whole night. Two people stood in front of the door; several people stood in the yard with wooden rods and electric batons; and several came into the house and turned everything in the room up-side-down. They even searched inside the bed covers. During the day, loud speakers in the town would broadcast programmes to slander Falun Gong and poison people's minds morning, noon and night. Li Xiuju's family suffered even more severe persecution. The family's house was searched every time.

The perpetrators threatened Li Xiuju's husband. He was often called to the village committee and was given a so-called "political" lesson. When he came back home, he often threw or broke things and yelled to let off steam. Li Xiuju cried day and night and couldn't eat or drink. After such high pressure by the party's terrorism, she died on January 17th, 2002, at the age of 52.

Related people in Cuijiayu Town, Yishui County, Linyi City, Shandong Province:

(Note: for home or office phone numbers, dial country code + area code before all numbers. For mobile phone numbers, dial country code before the numbers. Country code: 86, area code: 539)

Guo Zhongyou

Head of CCP Committee, Head of People's Representative Committee

2641127 (o), 2220973 (h), 13605491926 (m)

Xu Benkai

Deputy head of CCP Committee, the town head

2641218(o), 2252462(h), 13854909389 (m)

Note

1. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

2. "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/10/10/139800.html