Older Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Liu Sulan Passes Away after Enduring Years of Persecution

Name: Liu Sulan
Gender: Female
Age: 59
Address: Dongling Village, Xiangdian Neighbouring Office, Pingdu City, Shandong Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Death: April 10th, 2011
Date of Most Recent Arrest: Winter of 2000
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xiangdian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee
City: Pingdu
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Detention, brainwashing, extortion, living under surveillance, forced labour, harassment.

Before Liu Sulan began practising Falun Gong in February 1997, she had diabetes and her whole body was swollen. She was unable to work. After practising Falun Gong, she became healthy. However, since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Li, who followed the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance was detained many times. She became homeless and she suffered tremendously, both physically and mentally. After suffering serious medical complications last year, Ms. Liu passed away on April 10th, 2011.

After the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Liu and fellow practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. When they passed Ming Village they were caught by the Xiangdian CCP committee and detained at the Pingdu Party School for the entire afternoon. They were then sent to the Xiangdian CCP Committee and detained there for a week, where they were forced to watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. One day the civil administration assistant, Wang Jin, held a note and said to Ms. Liu: “We have a list of names from your village and you are the head.” Ms. Liu and her fellow practitioners were forced to write a guarantee statement to renounce practising Falun Gong. After Ms. Liu returned home, the village party secretary Zhang Zhenhe repeatedly forced her to write a confession statement. Civil administration assistant Wang Jin and the sheriff at the Xiangdian police station, Wang Xijiang, often came to harass her at her home.

In the autumn of 2000, Wang Xijiang organised more than 20 people to drive to Ms. Liu's home, where they proceeded to stand guard inside and outside of her house. They wanted her to go to the Xiangdian CCP Committee, yet she refused. One young man said: “If you keep refusing, we will beat you.” It was after midnight. Wang Xijiang then took a different tactic, saying: “If you go with us, we'll not beat you or verbally abuse you. You'll be fine.” They coerced Ms. Liu's husband, Mr. Zhang Xiliang, to cooperate with them. Neither she nor her husband recognised that they were being deceived and so they went with them. After they arrived at the Committee, Ms. Liu was detained. Party secretary Wang Mingle demanded that Ms. Liu pay two thousand yuan¹, otherwise she would not be allowed to go home. In desperation, her husband gave Wang Mingle their television (worth 2,800 yuan), the only valuable item that they possessed. Ms. Liu was then released. Since that time, however, Ms. Liu was kept under 24-hour surveillance at her home.

In the winter of 2000, Ms. Liu and her daughter, as well as several other Falun Gong practitioners, went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. They were arrested by Beijing police and forced to sit on the cold ground all day. Two days later, they were brought back by the police from the Pingdu Liaison Office in Beijing. On the third day, they were taken to the Xiangdian CCP Committee by the Pingdu Police Bureau, Xiangdian CCP Committee, Xiangdian Police Station and the Dongling Village Committee. They were detained separately. Officials from Dongling Village included secretary Zhang Bingxian and director of the Women's Association, Du Peizhi. A police officer from the Pingdu Police Bureau viciously said to Ms. Liu: “I really want to stomp you to death.” After being detained for seven or eight days, she was then sent to the Pingdu Detention Centre.

The practitioners were not allowed to have enough food at the detention centre and they were forced to do slave labour every day. Later, after they were each extorted for 200 yuan and detained for fifteen days, they were taken back by the Xiangdian CCP Committee, and not released until they each paid ten thousand yuan. Ms. Liu and her daughter could not afford the amount. Ms. Liu's husband had to sell all their valuable items, including a freezer, electric fan and three acres of peanuts for five thousand yuan. After Ms. Liu's husband wrote a note indicating that he owed them fifteen thousand yuan, Ms. Liu and her daughter were released.

During the detention, the officials intentionally opened the windows to expose Ms. Lui and her family to freezing temperatures. There was thick ice on the window glass. Ms. Liu's granddaughter was only eight months old and the child was crying from the cold. Ms. Liu was heartbroken and she wanted to hug the child. However, the party secretary Wang Mingle said: "You are not qualified to hold the child and you are not allowed to look at [your family]. " There were a lot of chairs in the room, yet the chairs were piled together, so they were forced to sit on the cold floor. After Ms. Liu was released, she was monitored by village security guard Zhang Shilin every day.

In July 2005, when Falun Gong practitioners Lin Huaping, Han Shuzhi and Zong Jingfang from the Xiangdian Neighbourhood Office were distributing leaflets exposing the persecution and telling people the facts about Falun Gong at Xingjiatuan Village, they were captured and sent to the Pingdu Brainwashing Centre to be tortured. Later, they were sent to the Wangcun Forced Labour Camp, where Lin Huaping was sentenced to one and a half years forced labour, while Han Shuzhi and Zong Jingfang were sentenced to one year of forced labour.

At that time, Ms. Liu was taking care of her granddaughter for her daughter living in Qingdao. She did not know what had happened to her three fellow practitioners. Ms. Lin Huaping's husband and son believed that because Ms. Liu had introduced Falun Gong to Ms. Lin, it was her fault that Ms. Lin was being persecuted. As a result, they held a grudge against Ms. Liu and sought revenge. Ms. Liu's husband was ordered to call the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) at Pingdu as soon as he saw his wife. Ms. Liu had no choice but to quickly leave home after buying food for their harvest. Five acres of corn and two and a half acres of peanuts were ready for harvest, however, Ms. Liu dared not go home. The backyard and porch by the front door became overgrown with grass and weeds.

On September 27th, 2008 when Ms. Liu was at her daughter's home, instructor Guo at the Xiangdian police station led four people from the 610 Office of the Pingdu Police Bureau to break into Ms. Liu's daughter's home. Ms. Liu, who was at her daughter's home at the time, escaped but her husband was arrested and detained at the Xiangdian Police Station after bringing lunch to their daughter's home. Mr. Zhang's mobile phone, an mp3 player, two Falun Gong books and materials were taken away. One day later, he was sent to the Pingdu Detention Centre, where a janitor named Huang told cell head Guo Ming: “Let's beat him up tonight.” Afterwards seven or eight prisoners beat Mr. Zhang, then covered him with a blanket and kept him beating for more than one hour. His chest was injured so seriously that he could hardly breathe or eat; he could not move his feet, legs or sit down. On the second day, he was forced to pick chilli peppers until 2 a.m. Because he was so badly beaten, the pungent odour of the peppers made his chest more painful. At his urging, they reduced his work load and let him work with other four prisoners. Two of the prisoners were disgusted with Mr. Zhang's slow progress, and they beat him until his nose and mouth bled. One of the prisoners was from Zujiatuan, Zhanggezhuang Town. Mr. Zhang was released after being detained for one month. It took a long time for him to recover from his injuries.

In September 2009, the Director of the Women's Association at Dongling Village, Du Peizhi called Ms. Liu's son asking if his mother was at his house, to which he replied that she was. The next day, the neighbourhood committee where Ms. Liu's son lived led two people to her son's home. They could not find Ms. Liu so they went to harass her daughter. They sent people to monitor her daughter's home so that they could check if she was there.

One day, Ms. Liu went home to visit her elderly mother-in-law. As soon as she left the village in the afternoon, there were plainclothes police officers driving to her house to harass them. When Ms. Liu's nephew got married, the director at village Du Peizhi came and checked every room to see if she was there.

In May 2010, Ms. Liu went home to celebrate her father-in-law's birthday. In less than an hour after she came home, two police from the Xiangdian Police Station went to harass her.

Ms. Liu's suffered tremendously from the endless harassment and abuse. Her diabetes recurred, her eyesight deteriorated and she almost became blind. When Ms. Liu arrived at the Shandong University Hospital in Qingdao, she had been in a coma and dependent on an oxygen machine. Only 10 days of hospitalisation cost 30,000 yuan. Finally, the doctor said that she was incurable, so she had to be discharged. She was carried home by her family members.

Ms. Liu remained in a coma after returning home. She was incontinent and soiled the bed. She passed away at noon on April 10th. Liu Sulan's premature death was the result of persecution by the Xiangdian CCP Committee, the Police Station, the Pingdu Police Bureau and the 610 Office.

Note

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

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/4/15/239081.html