Ms. Wei Minghua Dies from Persecution, Her Husband Serves Long Prison Sentence for Practising Falun Gong

Name: Wei Minghua
Gender: Female
Age: 56
Address: Qingyuan County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province
Occupation: Teacher employed by Qingyuan County First High School
Date of Death: July 3rd, 2010
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 19th, 2003
Most Recent Place of Detention: First Division of Fushun City Police Department
City: Fushun
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, torture, extortion, dismissed from workplace, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Ms. Wei Minghua, was a senior teacher at the Qingyuan County No. 1 Middle School in Fushun City, Liaoning Province. Since the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners began in 1999, she and her husband, Mr. Li Wensong, were arrested many times, and her wages and pension were cut off. She died at the age of 56 on July 3rd, 2010. Her husband was imprisoned for more than seven years, and lost his government job.

On July 28th, 1999, Ms. Wei went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. After Ms. Wei went back to work, Shi Baoyan, the discipline secretary of the Education Bureau, instructed Bi Shuhua (female), the former principal of the middle school, to brainwash her. She was detained for fifteen days and extorted of a month's salary and bonus. In addition, the school administration and the county Education Committee each forced her to pay 2000 yuan¹ of "guarantee money" for not appealing in Beijing in the future. Hong Zhaochen, the discipline secretary of the Education Committee, repeatedly denied her requests to return the money. The money has still not been returned to her.

While she was being subjected to brainwashing, Mr. Li, her husband, was jailed for practising Falun Gong.

At 10:10 p.m. on October 25th, 2000, three officers from the Qingyuan County Police Department, including Xu Jinrong and Meng Lingguang, broke into their home, ransacked the place, and arrested them.

They both were detained at the Dashagou Detention Centre. Ms. Wei was released thirty-six days later. Mr. Li was subjected to two years of forced labour for having Falun Gong books at his home.

Bi Shuhua called Ms. Wei to the principal's office while she was teaching her class, at 3:15 p.m. on May 19th, 2003. Two officers from the First Office of Fushun City Police Department and Zhu Zhonghua from the Xinglong Police Station in Qingyuan County were there. They dragged her from the office on the third floor to the schoolyard. Her clothes were unbuttoned. Her trousers and socks were torn, exposing her skin. Teachers and students witnessed the event. Bi Shuhua, school party secretary Fu Wei, and deputy principal Li Guojun helped the officers put her into a car. The driver said, "If you were not a teacher, you would have been handcuffed, and I would make sure you were dead after we reached the destination." She was taken to the First Office of Fushun City Police Department.

That same day, officers from the Fushun City Police Department arrested Mr. Li in his office at the Fushun Power Company. They interrogated him that night. Officers Hao and Teng Yue slapped his face. He lost all hearing in his left ear and now has permanent hearing loss.

Ms. Wei was subjected to forced labour. On May 26th and 28th, they twice took her to the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp, but the camp administration refused to admit her both times because she failed to pass the physical exam. She was released on bail on May 30th after paying 6000 yuan, 1125 yuan in administration fees, 130 yuan for ten days' food, and 400 yuan for a physical exam.

After her release, the County Supervision Bureau put her on administrative dismissal and one year's probation. The Qingyuan County No. 1 Middle School stopped her pay. She never regained her job because the Education Committee director, Sun Zhongxiao, did not take any action, citing the decision was from the top. Her pension was denied when she reached retirement age.

Mr. Li was tortured on the afternoon of the last Sunday in May by officers Guan Yong, Liu Pinghe, Zhang Tao, and a young officer whose name is unknown. They beat and kicked him until he lost consciousness. After he regained consciousness, they put him on a tiger bench². They wrote a will in his name and put his fingerprints on it by force, saying, "If you die, we will inform your family and employer that you committed suicide."

On September 23rd, 2003, the Qingyuan County Court sentenced Mr. Li to six years in prison. He was imprisoned in the Dabei Prison in Shenyang, then at Huazi Prison in Liaoyang, and lastly in Dalian City Prison. When he was released on May 19, 2009, the Qingyuan County Political and Judiciary Committee and the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) planned to take him directly to the Futai Mountain Villa Brainwashing Centre in Fushun. The plan was aborted because of efforts by his family and friends to prevent it.

Related report: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/6/9/36736.html

Note

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

2. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/9/19/229838.html