Arrests of Falun Gong Practitioners Wang Yinghua, Wang Yingxia, and Others from Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province

Two sisters, Wang Yinghua and Wang Yingxia, were arrested and detained by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They have a younger sister who is not a practitioner. The persecution of Wang Yingxia has been severe. Their father is 72 years old, and their mother is 70. Their father suffered a stroke many years ago, and he needed assistance walking. The elderly couple was inconsolable after learning about the persecution of their two daughters.

The oldest daughter, Wang Yinghua, was detained in Jiamusi Detention Centre for more than two months after she was arrested by the Tiananmen Square police for appealing for Falun Gong in Beijing. She was later released after being fined 1,000 yuan¹. In 2004, Wang Yinghua was again arrested by the Jiamusi City 610 Office². Her house was ransacked, and many Falun Gong-related books were confiscated. The police did not release her until she was near death due to the police brutality.

The elderly couples' second daughter, Wang Yingxia, was also arrested, and her house has been ransacked five times since 1999. The police have extorted tens of thousands of yuan from her. She was twice sent to a forced labour camp. When she was detained in Jiamusi Forced Labour Camp, the police put her through numerous forms of torture. One time, she and several other practitioners were locked in a solitary confinement cell because they protested the broadcast of video clips that slandered Falun Gong. The police handcuffed them to a cold iron bed with no cushions, and they were later forced to sit on the cold cement floor around the clock for seven consecutive days. During this time they were not allowed to shower or use the restroom. They were also deprived of sleep and constantly monitored by the police. In October 2002, the Jiamusi Detention Centre police forced all Falun Gong practitioners to wear prison uniforms. Wang Yingxia believed that she was not a prisoner, and she refused to wear the uniform, because she knew it was not wrong to believe in Falun Gong's tenets of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Because she didn't cooperate with the police, Ms. Wang was again handcuffed for more than two weeks in the bed, and she was exposed to the cold weather in wintertime. In Spring 2004, she was tortured by the police for a long period of time, permanently injuring her hand. The police finally released her after holding her for a long period of time.

On the night of December 14th, 2007, Wang Yingxia and Liu Yanchang, a Falun Gong practitioner from Tongjiang City, went to Qinghe County. They were turned in by the village chief and arrested by officers from the Qinghe Police Station. At that time, Liu Yanchang had 6,000 yuan in cash, a motorcycle, and two mobile phones, all of which were taken away by the police. Wang Yingxia was later sent to the Fuyuan Detention Centre. When Wang Yinghua, her older sister, learned of the news, she went to the Tongjiang Police Station to demand the release of her sister. She was told that her sister was already sentenced to three years in jail.

In April 2008, Wang Yinghua received a phone call from the Fuyuan Detention Centre. She was told that her sister needed to see a doctor. When she arrived at the detention centre, she saw that her sister's face and nose were swollen, and she couldn't see. She was told that a tumour was growing inside her eyes. The local hospital couldn't treat her, and she had to be transferred to another hospital. When her family requested a medical parole, the Fuyuan Detention Centre police said that they couldn't make that decision because her case belonged to Tongjiang City. Wang Yinghua again went to the Tongjiang Police Station and asked the police there to release her sister. The police asked her whether she was a Falun Gong practitioner.

At that time, Wang Yinghua temporarily lived in Liu Yanwei's house, a fellow practitioner from Tongjiang City. At 8 p.m. on May 5th, 2008, both Wang Yinghua and Liu Yanwei were arrested. The police snatched the keys from them and opened the door of their residence. They took away a laptop computer, MP3 and MP4 players, and some CDs exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. Liu Yanwei was later detained in Tongjiang Detention Centre, and Wang Yinghua was sent to Jiamusi Detention Centre. One day in mid-May, with the help of their youngest daughter, the elderly couple went to visit their oldest daughter, Wang Yinghua, in Jiamusi Detention Centre, but the guard at the entrance denied entry to them. Several officers came out of the detention centre and asked them to leave. Later, the elderly couple asked their friends for help. They came back and told them, "No Falun Gong practitioners will be released before the Olympic Games."

Due to Wang Yingxia's critical medical condition, she was released from Fuyuan Detention Centre, and she was later sent to Tongjiang Detention Centre. In mid-May, her younger sister went to visit her in the prison. The police asked her if she was a Falun Gong practitioner and called the Bureau of Public Security in Jiamusi City to confirm. In the end, she was confirmed not to be a Falun Gong practitioner, but she was still not allowed to see her sister,or leave her with some clothes.

Wang Yingxia is currently detained in the Tongjiang Detention Centre. Wang Yinghua was detained in Jiamusi Detention Centre and reported to have been transferred back to Tongjiang Detention Centre.

Note

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

2. "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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/6/5/179735.html