Two Sisters and a Daughter Imprisoned for Six Years

On July 8th, 2002, police from Shuangcheng Town, Heilongjiang Province ransacked practitioner Ms. Yan Shufen's home. They arrested her, her younger sister Yan Shuhua, and her daughter Wang Lili. Seven months later, in February 2003, the three practitioners were sentenced to 15 years, 14 years and 13 years in jail respectively. They have been in jail for five years and their family members have been deprived of the right to see them.

At about 4:00 p.m. on July 8th, 2002, police officers Pei Congtai, He Aimin, Xiao Kang, Xu Liang and Liu Zhimin, from the Shuangcheng Police Department, broke into Yan Shufen's house claiming to be "searching for Falun Gong materials," without a search warrant. They ransacked the house and confiscated 2,200 yuan¹ in cash and a mobile phone.

On the same day they also ransacked the house of Ms. Yan's mother when no one was home. The police broke into the house and confiscated a carton of cigarettes worth 100 yuan.

When the police ransacked Yan Shufen's house, Wang Lili and Yan Shuhua tried to stop them. The police then arrested the three practitioners. Yan Shufen's 72-year-old mother-in-law cried and begged the police not to take them away. Pei Congtai deceived her by saying that they were only taking them to the police station to make an inquiry and told her that they would be released right away. But the women didn't return as promised. The practitioners' family members tried to visit them several times but were not allowed to see them until February 2003, when the women had already been detained for seven months. The day before they were sent to the Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison, the police suddenly notified their family to come see them. They have been detained in the Women's Prison ever since.

On July 8th, 2007, Ms. Yan Shufen's family went to the women's prison to see them. Yan Shufen came out with the help of others. She had a very pale face and had difficulty walking. She didn't even have the strength to speak, and only nodded to her family members. The prison doctor said, "She bled heavily, her mouth ulcerated and her life was in danger. The warden sent her to the No. 2 Hospital affiliated with Harbin City Medical College. After a blood transfusion, she came to life again. If the situation had continued, her life would have been in danger." Her family didn't know of her illness at all. Under usual circumstances, the family is to be notified of any illness of a detained person. The medical expenses are usually born by the family, but this time the prison didn't ask for a penny for her medical expenses.

Yan Shufen was sentenced to 14 years in prison. She is now detained in the No. 7 Prison Ward in Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison.

Yan Shuhua was sentenced to 13 years in prison. She is now detained in the No. 7 Prison Ward in Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison.

Wang Lili was sentenced to 12 years in prison. She is now detained in the No. 7 Prison Ward in Heilongjiang Province Women's Prison.

Originally, the three were not detained in the same ward. In order to deceive them, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officers in the prison put them in the same ward to show its "humanness" so that their family members would "thank" them for their "concern."

Yan Shufeng's husband has tried to support his wife and daughter by doing casual jobs. Yan Shuhua's husband divorced her in 2002 when she was persecuted, and she had to rely on her own family members. She is less than forty years old but her hair has turned almost all white. Wang Lili is spending the years of her youth in the CCP's dark prison cells.

So far they have been detained in prison for six years, and their family members are very worried about them.

Note

1. "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.org/mh/articles/2008/5/26/179165.html