Liu Xia's Confinement in a Forced Labour Camp Extended "Because of the Olympics"

Ms. Liu Xia, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Xinyang in Henan Province. Her three-year prison term at a forced labour camp was scheduled to end in April 2008. However, authorities at Xinxiang Women's Forced Labour Camp refused to release Ms. Liu Xia, citing the Olympic Games as an excuse. Ms. Liu's family has been told she will be released when the Olympic Games end.

Ms. Liu Xia, 44, was a teacher at the 10th Junior High School in Xinyang. She used to suffer from congenital heart disease. When she was a college student, her boyfriend left her because she had heart problems and could not have children. Since practising Falun Gong, her heart disease has disappeared without any medicine. Later, she married and now has a daughter. This was a dream she had never thought possible. She often talks with people telling them that Falun Gong has given her a new life. She has been recognized as a first rate teacher.

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its persecution of Falun Gong she has been to Beijing to appeal for justice. She was persecuted many times for this. During her imprisonment, about six prisoners scolded her in turn. Three days later, they forced her to begin hard labour.

During the summer vacation, her term expired but she was still in prison at the beginning of the new school term. At school, she could hear her daughter and husband's voices, but the school committee refused to allow Ms. Liu to meet with her family. The school supervisors intended to force her to give up her faith for the love of her family, but they failed so the supervisor sent her to a detention centre.

Ms. Liu Xia was brutally tortured over the course of the following nine months. Officials from the 610 Office¹ of Xinyang Public Security Bureau and the 10th Junior High School supervisor extorted 6000 yuan² from her husband. Her husband then signed statements the police had drawn up in exchange for her release. Ms. Liu Xia was fired from her job because of the statements.

Later, Ms. Liu Xia left home to avoid further persecution. Her husband's mobile phone was monitored by the 610 Office and the Public Security Bureau, however, so Ms. Liu was arrested again. Authorities from the Public Security Bureau sent her directly to Xinxiang Women's Forced Labour Camp without any legal proceedings. For several visiting days, camp officials refused to allow her to meet with family members and relatives.

It was time to release Ms. Liu in April 2008, but authorities at the forced labour camp said that because the Olympic Games will be held in China in August, Ms. Liu would remain in prison. Are the "Olympic Games" a reason to extend a prison term? Do other countries do this when they hold Olympic Games? We wish everyone to understand what the CCP is doing for the Olympic Games. Please help Ms. Liu Xia return home soon.

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. "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/2008/5/10/178148.html