Young Mother Jailed--Her Son Left Behind

Falun Gong practitioner Pang Liyun lives in the Xuanhua District of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. On August 2nd, 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, she was arrested by police officers Hou Haiqing and Qi Taixing. She has been sentenced to prison and is currently detained in Xuanhua Detention Centre. No one is available to take care of her 8-year-old son.

On the afternoon of August 2nd, 2008, officers from Huangcheng Police Station broke into and ransacked Ms. Pang's home. They arrested her and took her Falun Gong books. The stated reason for the arrest was "to guarantee the safety of the Beijing Olympics." The police were following orders from their supervisors to arrest all Falun Gong practitioners in order to tightly control them. Eight months have already passed and she has not been released. Her husband has to go to work, which leaves no one to take care of their son. They could not afford the tuition for his school and have had to borrow money from friends and relatives. During the Chinese New Year, instead of enjoying the holiday, all the family members and relatives visited the offices of the police, Procuratorate and judicial systems to try to save this poor family.

When the district court tried her, she could not afford to hire a lawyer to defend herself. In addition, no lawyer dares to defend Falun Gong practitioners. As a result, she was sentenced to three years in prison even though she did not break any law.

When Pang Liyun's parents, husband, and relatives questioned the people in charge of her case, some of them answered, "We understand that Falun Gong is a personal belief. It's not against the law." They could not even cite the law that practising Falun Gong supposedly "breaks." If there is no such law that deems Falun Gong illegal, and Falun Gong practitioners break no laws, how can the charge of "using an illegal organization to undermine the law" be used to sentence practitioners? This is simply a "fabricated" charge. The people in charge of her case said, "We have no choice. We have to follow our supervisor's orders." The judicial system does not follow the law. Where can the Chinese people go to find justice?!

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/4/9/198666.html