(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Yanqun was arrested at home on March 17, 2020, for practicing Falun Gong. More than a month later, her daughter still hasn't been able to find out exactly where she is being detained.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Ms. Li, a 65-year-old Foshan City, Guangdong Province, resident, credits Falun Gong for curing her heart disease and many other ailments. She was arrested four times between 2001 and 2005 and sentenced to three years in 2007 because she refused to give up her faith. She was tortured while serving time at Guangdong Province Women’s Prison, and her hands and feet were injured and disfigured. Because of her mobility impairment, she rarely went out.
Ms. Li’s daughter told a Minghui correspondent that when she went to her mother's home on March 18, 2020, she was shocked to see police tape on the door and knew from past experience that her mother must have been arrested again for her faith.
The daughter used her spare key to unlock the door and found a big mess—but no sign of her mother. She checked everything and realized that her mother's computer, Falun Gong materials, and all her cash were gone.
Ms. Li's daughter went to the local Zumiao Police Station and was told that Ms. Li had been released around 8 p.m. the night before. The daughter then asked why the police tape was still there if her mother had returned home before her visit.
Only then did the local police admit that officers from the Shengtang Police Station had taken Ms. Li away and put her in criminal detention.
When Ms. Li's daughter went to the Shengtang Police Station, the officer on duty refused to deal with her except to say she had to wait for a detention notice in the mail.
On March 24, Ms. Li’s daughter received the criminal detention notice, which stated that Ms. Li was being held in the Chancheng District Detention Center.
Ms. Li’s daughter hired a lawyer on March 31. When the lawyer tried to make an appointment to visit Ms. Li, he was surprised to find that she wasn’t in the Chancheng District Detention Center.
Ms. Li's daughter returned to the Zumiao Police Station and, after demanding an answer, learned that Ms. Li had been transferred to the Gaoming District Detention Center.
The lawyer made several more attempts to visit Ms. Li at the Gaoming District Detention Center but was unsuccessful each time he tried to make an appointment online.
Ms. Li’s daughter also wondered why the money she deposited for Ms. Li wasn’t being used. Since Ms. Li didn’t bring any daily necessities with her when she was arrested, it didn’t make any sense that she wouldn’t need to buy anything in the Gaoming District Detention Center. Not only that, her denture was still at home, and her daughter is worried about how she is managing to eat.
On April 24, Ms. Li's daughter went to the Gaoming District Detention Center to try to deliver some clothes to her, only to be driven away and told that Ms. Li wasn’t there.
Five days later, her daughter received her mother’s formal arrest notice, which indicated that her arrest was approved on April 5 and that she was being held in the Chancheng District Detention Center, which claimed on March 31 that she was no longer there.
Ms. Li's daughter still doesn't know where her mother is at the time of writing.
