Ms. Li Shanshan in Tangshan, Hebei Province, sued Gangbei Prison in Tianjin to rescue her innocent husband, Zhou Xiangyang, but was persecuted again. She was forcibly taken away from her booth in New Tiandi Supermarket by police officers from the Domestic Security Division in Tangshan on October 29th. She has apparently been sentenced to two years of forced labour.
Back in January 2006, Ms. Li appealed for her husband, which offended Gangbei Prison officials. To get revenge, the prison contrived to get her sentenced to forced labour for one year and three months.
After Ms. Li was arrested, her family members went all over to different police departments, but the stations all denied any responsibility in the matter. Her family hired two attorneys from Beijing to demand answers. The domestic security division still passed the buck, did not show any legal documents, and refused to hold anyone responsible.
Many citizens in Tangshan saw the letter written by Ms. Li’s family and friends to Tangshan government, "Do Not Participate In Persecuting Our Daughter in Tangshan", and all were willing to sign it to rescue Ms. Li. Many had previously signed a petition to secure the release of Ms. Li’s husband, Mr. Zhou, in Qinhuangdao. Friends and relatives of Falun Gong practitioners were all moved by Ms. Li’s plight and signed the letter.
Unlike Mr. Zhou’s hometown, where everyone knew him, in Tangshan, not many are familiar with Ms. Li, who was born in a big city. However, when they heard about what she had gone through in rescuing her husband, they were angry that a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prison would torture good people and were touched by Ms. Li’s compassion and forbearance. They also thought it was unfair for her to be punished twice for appealing for her husband. When many people quit the CCP they also signed for Ms. Li’s family.
Since Ms. Li was sentenced to forced labour, 528 people have signed on her behalf.
We hope justice and compassion can move more people, including those that are participating in the CCP’s crimes and persecuting innocent people.
Series of Events
After Mr. Zhou Xiangyang, an engineer at the No. 3 Exploration and Design Institute, was arrested in March, his wife publicised the fact that he was tortured with the “ground anchor” and high voltage electric batons. Her public letter has been published in many overseas media and has gained much attention. It prompted over 2,000 people to sign a petition in support of Mr. Zhou. It showed that the CCP rumours about Falun Gong have been gradually debunked, which has also panicked the Chinese authorities. So far, over 100 million people have quit the CCP. More and more openly support Falun Gong.
The appeal letter reflected people's true thoughts, and many praised Mr. Zhou as a good person and said he should not be tortured like that. The CCP does not respect the opinion of the people, however, and will not investigate the terrible deeds carried out in Gangbei Prison or release Mr. Zhou. On the contrary, police officers in his hometown frequently threatened and harassed those who signed the petition in Changli County, Qinhuangdao. The police also prevented Mr. Zhou’s mother from visiting him, saying that she had to report to the local police department before she could visit him in Gangbei Prison, and had to be taken there in a local police car. They also persecuted Ms. Li Shanshan in her hometown of Tangshan. She was arrested from her own booth and detained secretly in Tangshan Brainwashing Centre. It was reported that she was sentenced to two years of forced labour.
In order to achieve their goal, the CCP utilized the police system in Tianjin and Hebei.
Ms. Li Shanshan is from Fengrun, Tangshan. She was once detained for 15 months because she appealed on behalf of her husband. Even though they lived together less than a year after they were married, Ms. Li is loyal to her husband and has appealed for him for seven years. Recently, in order to rescue him, she wrote a public letter and collected over 2,000 signatures from her hometown. Now she is being persecuted again and has been given a two-year sentence.
Ms. Li’s public letter, "A Young Couple’s Tribulation: 7 Years Waiting, 9 Years Persecution", moved people to tears; over five overseas media have published her letter. The letter generated an uproar in her hometown, and over 2,300 people from about 10 towns in Changli County signed it.
Her compassion, faithfulness, and traditional virtues impressed many in her hometown.
A man said, “Xiangyang’s wife wrote a good letter, and I read it whenever I get off work. I can even recite it from memory. Our whole family signed the letter to rescue Xiangyang!”
A man in his 50s said, “After reading A Young Couple’s Tribulation, I was moved to tears. Is it true? If so, the CCP is really wrong. Even a murderer should not be executed until the time set. How could they torture a good person like that? Many people were moved, and my whole family signed the letter.”
This round of persecution was directly ordered by high level CCP authorities and executed by police controlled by the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) in Hebei and Tianjin. On March 5th, when arresting Mr. Zhou, police from the domestic security division of Tangshan said, “You think it's easy for us to get a 3,000-yuan1 bonus?” Not to mention that the 610 Office in Tianjin bribes police officers to work for them. This time, Tianjin Domestic Security Division utilized police in Tangshan to prevent Ms. Li Shanshan from suing them.
Appendix
Appeal from family members of Ms. Li Shanshan: Do not persecute our daughter in Tangshan!
Our daughter, Li Shanshan, was seized on October 29th, from her booth in Xintiandi Supermarket by police from the domestic security division in Tangshan. She called out to the bystanders, “Please get my family to hire a lawyer for me!” Because Li Shanshan insisted on suing Gangbei Prison in Tianjin, appealing for her husband in prison, she was persecuted again. On October 30th, Li Shanshan was detained in Fengrun Brainwashing Centre but was taken away on October 31st, and we do not know where she is now.
In January 2006, Li Shanshan appealed for her husband and irritated Gangbei Prison. The local government reprimanded her and sentenced her to forced labour for one year and three months.
Police in Tangshan said Zhang Shilin in Gangbei Prison accused Li Shanshan of writing them a threatening letter and suing them to cause trouble at the prison while appealing for her husband. In her sentencing document, she was accused of “trying to overturn the government.” It is hard to imagine why the government accused this young lady of such a big crime. She was only 25 years old that year, but suffered through hard labour and dark and lonely days. After she was released, she still insisted on visiting Xiangyang, her husband.
This time, Gangbei Prison in Tianjin again persecuted Li Shanshan. She is a daughter of Tangshan. We all respect her loyalty and forbearance, such precious qualities. She waited seven years for her boyfriend, Zhou Xiangyang, who was persecuted in prison. Because she appealed for him, she was sentenced to a forced labour camp for 15 months. She never changed her mind, but waited for him from her 20s to her 30s, despite societal pressures. They finally got married. On March 5th, when they had been married for about six months, Xiangyang was arrested again and sent to Gangbei Prison. Shanshan continued to appeal for him. Her compassion and loyalty is the pride of Tangshan. Police in the domestic security division in Tangshan should protect people’s lives and property and uphold people's rights. Why are they willing to be exploited to persecute a daughter of their own hometown?
When his family visited Xiangyang on May 12th, Tianjin Prison tried to shift the blame. In front of Zhou, they encouraged his family to sue the Tangshan police instead of the prison.
Xiangyang has been on a hunger strike for over seven months, and his life is in danger all the time. His family is very worried about him and continues to appeal. Ms. Li’s mother-in-law protested that she was deprived of her right to visit her son. She wrote her petition on her clothes and stood on a stool in front of the prison gate, accusing Gangbei Prison of torturing Xiangyang with a ground anchor and shocking him with electric batons. Later on, his wife, Ms. Li Shanshan, wrote a public letter, "A Young Couple’s Tribulation: 7 Years Waiting, 9 Years Persecution", which was published by about ten overseas media. After reading the letter, people in Zhou Xiangyang’s hometown all signed on his behalf. As of the end of September, over 2,000 people had signed it, generating attention from China and abroad. This caused panic in Gangbei Prison, so they tried to transfer the blame and impugn others. They use the Tangshan police as a shield and persecuted our innocent lady again maliciously.
Recently Li Shanshan’s friends said they want to gather signatures for her. We cannot have extravagant hopes, but if we can get help from local people, we would really appreciate it. Learning how Shanshan’s public letter moved so many people to sign for Xiangyang and seeing so many kindhearted people in China, we are very pleased. We appreciate the people in Xiangyang’s hometown.
In the past few years, many righteous lawyers have defended Falun Gong practitioners, over 100 times in fact. This has shown that the persecution of Falun Gong has no any legal basis. All the officials, police officers, prosecutors, judges, and guards who participate in the persecution are guilty of crimes. The lessons of World War II and the Great Cultural Revolution are still with us, so history will soon decide fairly. The illegal detention of Ms. Li has been documented by her family members--no legal procedures were followed.
As her family, we have the right to find her an attorney and find out who is responsible. We will conclude by sharing the ending of Shanshan’s public letter:
“I am appealing for my husband. I am also upholding my right of belief, the laws, and justice. Falun Gong has been persecuted for 12 years, and I have been appealing for my husband for eight years. I still have a dream, that in our country, all families like our can enjoy a stable and quiet life. We will not be persecuted for speaking the truth, we will not be arrested for upholding our belief, and Truth-Compassion-Forbearance will return to everyone’s hearts!”
Signed,
Li Shanshan’s family and friends
Related articles:
“A Young Couple's Journey: Zhou Xiangyang's Fiancee Appeals Seven Years for His Release”
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/6/26/126261.html
“Ms. Li Shanshan Arrested by Tangshan Domestic Security Division” (Photos)
http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/11/11/129382.html
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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/11/15/249328.html
* * *
You are welcome to print and circulate all articles published on Clearharmony and their content, but please quote the source.
more ...