Ms. Yang Conzhi Covertly Sentenced to Four Years of Imprisonment, Her Husband Disabled as a Result of Persecution

Name: Yan Congzhi
Gender: Female
Age: 62
Address: Dazhong Township, Baiquan County, Heilongjiang Province
Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 30th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Qiqihar No. 1 Detention Centre
City: Qiqihar
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Detention

Ms.Yan Congzhi was arrested in September by the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). For the past three months, her family has tried in vain to visit her. The local 610 Office, public security bureau, and detention centre have shirked responsibility and has denied her family visitation rights. It was only in January 2011 that her son found out that she had been sentenced to four years of imprisonment.

To date, her family does not know where Ms. Yan is being held.

In the past ten years, Ms. Yan and her husband have remained faithful to Falun Gong. As a result, they have been constantly persecuted by the local police. The two of them were forced to leave their home. Her husband was sentenced to a forced labour camp, and the torture he suffered there caused him to become paralysed from the waist down. Now Ms. Yan has been sentenced. Her husband has to be taken care of by Ms. Yan's elderly sister who lives in another city.

Ms. Yan used to have stomach problems, arthritis and gynaecological issues. When her husband began practising Falun Gong 1996, he changed for the better physically and mentally. When Ms. Yan witnessed her husband's changes, she began to practise too, beginning in 1997. Within six months, she became healthy and energetic. She could work in the fields and became a happier person, kinder and more hardworking.

Ms. Yan and her husband used to live in Nenjiang County, Qixingpao Farm. Since the persecution started, they moved to Bei'an City and later Changzheng Village, Dazhong Township, Baiquan County.
In April 2003, Ms. Yan's husband was arrested as soon as he got off the bus on his way to Qixingpao. He was then detained in the local detention centre for 97 days. During his detention, local authorities in Nenjiang County conspired to sentence him to forced labour for three years. In the same year, on July 24th, he was arrested and taken to Suihua City Forced Labour Camp, where he suffered maltreatment for six months until his legs became paralysed and he had to be transferred to a nursing home in Dazhong Township, Baiquan County.

On May 16th, 2010, police from Dazhong Police Station, along with three staff members from Baiquan County 610 Office, ransacked Ms. Yan's home and took away personal belongings, as well as videotaping her home.

Early in the morning, at approximately 5 a.m. on September 30th, 2010, Wang Xugang and Xiao deceived Ms. Yan into going to the township government, and when she got there, staff from the local 610 Office were there. They arrested her and took her to Qiqihar No. 1 Detention Centre.

In early January 2011, Ms. Yan's son found out from a staff member in the county's court that she had been sentenced to four years of imprisonment. The family has been kept in the dark during the the process.

Phone numbers of the perpetrators:
610 Office of Baiquan County 86-452－7323831, ext.3610/3611

Zhu Qingli, director of the 610 Office: 13504825400 (cell)
Huang Zhongfu, staff member: 13504825856 (cell)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/11/30/90383.html