(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Guilin from Yangquan City, Shanxi Province, was placed in criminal detention on November 4, 2023 and now faces prosecution for practicing her faith, Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Li was arrested on October 19, 2023. More than twelve officers from the Kuang District Police Department broke into her husband Mr. Wang Zhongming’s workplace at 11 a.m. that day and asked if he posted a Falun Gong-related video online from his cell phone. He acknowledged the video was posted from his phone but said he did not remember having posted the video himself.
The police took Mr. Wang, who didn’t practice Falun Gong, to his home. They snatched his key and opened the door. Ms. Li happened to be home and was arrested on the spot. The police confiscated her computer, printer, Falun Gong books and informational materials.
Ms. Li was given 15 days of administrative detention at the Yangquan City Lockup before being put on criminal detention on November 4, 2023.
This is not the first time that Ms. Li has been targeted for her faith. She was previously arrested and harassed multiple times, resulting in a two-year forced labor term.
Past Persecution
The Wukuang Police Station raided Ms. Li’s home in early 2000 and forced her to report to the police station every day to study materials that slander Falun Gong.
Ms. Li went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in January 2001 and was arrested. Officers from the Wukuang Police Station picked her up and gave her two years of forced labor. While Ms. Li was en-route to Beijing, the Wukuang Police Station was unable to locate her for a period of time so they began to intimidate and beat her husband. Mr. Wang was so terrified that he developed a neurological disorder.
Prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Wukuang Police Station and the local street committee mobilized a large number of people to monitor and shadow Ms. Li around the clock, including when she went grocery shopping. Every time she took a train to go to her hometown, she was subjected to extra scrutiny at security checkpoints.
Around 10 a.m. on April 23, 2017, five people, including officers from the Guishigou Police Station and staffers from the Xiaohetan Community, broke into Ms. Li’s home. They photographed her against her will and ordered her to stop practicing Falun Gong.
On the morning of July 15, 2017, Ms. Li was going through the security checkpoints at a train station when several railroad police officers stopped her and photographed her. They questioned her and asked if she did anything bad. She replied that she was merely striving to be a good person by following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They accused her of breaking the law but were unable to specify which laws she broke. They let her go without arresting her.
Ms. Li was targeted again on November 20, 2020, when she and her son were on the train to Linfen City (also in Shanxi Province) to visit her sister. An officer on board asked to see her ID and she refused to show it to him. After she said her son bought the train tickets, the officer searched his bag before walking away.
Two officers from the Guishigou Police Station, including Wang Jianjun, knocked on Ms. Li’s door around 11 a.m. on June 4, 2021, while she was having lunch. They claimed to be visiting her to raise awareness of telecommunication fraud. She said that she did not play on her phone and that they must have come for her because she practiced Falun Gong. They left.
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