(Minghui.org) A former professor at Bohai Petroleum Vocational College passed away in April 2018 after nine years of imprisonment and financial devastation for not renouncing her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Aihua, 55, was removed from her teaching position and reassigned to work as a librarian shortly after the persecution began. The Renqiu City, Hebei Province resident was forced to take a buyout offer in 2001 and denied her right to pay into social security after she was last released from prison in 2015.
Years of financial despair, physical and mental torment took a toll on Ms. Li's health. She was completely bankrupted and penniless in her final days.
Arrests, Home-ransacking and Prison Terms
Ms. Li was first arrested in early 2001 while at work. The security personnel at her school carried her to a car and forced her to attend a brainwashing session aimed to force her to renounce Falun Gong.
A few weeks later, her school enforced a policy to transform Falun Gong practitioners. Without any legal document or warrant, her school's security personnel ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong related materials.
She was forced to take her school's buyout offer around June 2001 and had to move her household registration to a suburban area, which often lacks certain benefits such as children's education and healthcare, as a precondition to receiving severance pay. Her non-practitioner colleagues weren't asked to meet the precondition.
Ms. Li was arrested again in early 2002 and sentenced to five years by Renqiu Court. She served time at Taihang Prison in Hebei Province.
During the National Day of the Chinese communist regime in 2009, her former school dispatched people to stay in front of her home to monitor her around the clock. They were trying to prevent her from going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.
Ms. Li was arrested on December 18, 2010 for the third time after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She appeared in Renqiu Court on April 21, 2011. Most of her family members, including her brother and niece, weren't allowed to attend her hearing.
She was sentenced to four years in prison on July 20, 2011, and transferred to Shijiazhuang Women's Prison in late July, after nearly eight months of detention at Renqiu City Detention Center.
She was unable to talk for a long time after being released from prison. After resuming practicing Falun Gong, her voice recovered.
Related report:
Renqiu City Court in Hebei Province Repeatedly Postponed Illegal Trial of Ms. Li Aihua
Category: Deaths
