Ms. Shi Yingxia, Principal of Dianshi Computer School in Wuhan City, Sentenced to Four Years of Imprisonment

Name: Shi Yingxia
Gender: Female
Age: In her 40s
Address: No. 2 Road Qingshan District Development in Wuhan City
Occupation: School Princial
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 12th, 2008
Most recent place of detention: Wuhan City Women's Prison
City: Wuhan City
Province: Hubei Province
Persecution Suffered: Extortion, Detention, Imprisonment
Key Persecutors: Liu Hua, Yuan Lianghong

At about 9 a.m. on September 12th, 2008, more than 30 plainclothes police officers arrived in eight police cars at the Dianshi Computer School on Jianshe Road in the Qingshan District in Wuhan City. They barged into the school without showing any valid identification or following legal procedures. They took control of everyone present, including the students who were having lessons at that time. They ransacked the entire school, which consisted of three floors. The tables and cupboards in all the rooms, as well as the bags that belonged to the people present were all ransacked. They damaged huge amounts of property and took away many computers and other valuable items. All the employees of the Dianshi Computer School were arrested and their residences were also ransacked.

A few hours before, the police had stormed into the residence of Ms. Shi Yingxia, the principal and legal representative of the computer school, and taken her away.

The computer school suffered major losses, and Ms. Shi Yingxia's family has had no choice but to sell off the school for only 10,000 yuan¹ (the total investment they had originally made for this school was 100,000 yuan). Ms. Shi's mother had been ill and passed away less than one month ago. The family is reeling from two heavy blows and are extremely distressed. Ms. Shi's father is in his 80s and has a serious heart disease. He could die at any time. Her husband is usually out of town because of his work, and her daughter is studying elsewhere. Her mother-in-law is in her 80s and has many illnesses. She depended on Ms. Shi to take care of her. Now that Ms. Shi has been arrested, it has brought much suffering to her family.

Ms. Shi is in her 40s and founded the Dianshi Computer School by raising her own funds. She treated her students with sincerity and kindness. She told others about benefits of practising Falun Gong and the brutality of the persecution so as to dispel the misconceptions caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s propaganda. Someone reported her to the authorities and said that she spread Falun Gong in the computer school. Certain people took this matter as a serious case and spread rumours that the computer school was a Falun Gong activity base. They also spread a rumour that Ms. Shi had online Internet connections with overseas parties. Zhang Zhujun, a policeman from the Qingshan District's Domestic Security Team, had used secret agents to monitor the computer school for a long time.

Three employees of the computer school were also incarcerated at the detention centre and brainwashing centre. (They have all since been released). But Ms. Shi was detained beyond the legal limit at Wuhan City No. 1 Detention Centre.

On June 25th, 2009, Qingshan District Court officials convened a trial regarding the computer school. Personnel from the 610 Office² ordered all the community workers in the Qingshan District to monitor Falun Gong practitioners in their different communities. They also compelled all police stations to have people stand guard outside the door of the Qingshan District Courthouse. They refused to let any practitioner to get near the courthouse. Ms. Shi denied all the false charges imposed by the court and could therefore not be publicly sentenced. However, under pressure from the 610 Office, after the court session Ms. Shi was sentenced to four years of imprisonment. She is now in the Wuhan City Women's Prison.

Main departments and persons in charge that particpated in the arrest of the employees of the Dianshi Computer School:
Liu Hua, employee at the Wuhan City 610 Office
High-ranking Internet police from Wuhan City Police Department (involved in confiscating computers)
Domestic Security Team of the Qingshan District
Yuan Lianghong, Head of the Qingshan District 610 Office
Hongwei Road Police Station
Zhijin Street Police Station
Ganghua Police Station and relevant departments

Primary individuals involved in this case:
Qingshan District Domestic Security Team: Zhang Zhujun, Liu, Ju Youping, Deng Gang
Ganghua Police Station: Xia Xiaoping and others

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/8/28/207317.html