(Minghui.org)
Name: Ji YingmeiChinese Name: 季英梅Gender: FemaleAge: 45City: DongyingProvince: ShandongOccupation: Gas and oil transportation center employeeDate of Death: October 9, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 6, 2021Most Recent Place of Detention: Binhai Lockup
Ms. Ji Yingmei gave up practicing Falun Gong after the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of the ancient spiritual and meditation discipline in 1999. Twenty years later, when she was diagnosed with late-stage cervical cancer and only had a few months left to live, she decided to take up Falun Gong again.
The Dongying City, Shandong Province resident miraculously recovered in six months, but she was arrested two years later on July 15, 2021 for practicing Falun Gong. The subsequent detention and financial persecution dealt her a heavy blow. Her cancer recurred and she passed away on October 9, 2022. She was only 45 years old, and is survived by her husband and a young child.
Shortly after Ms. Ji’s passing, the Shengli Oilfield where she worked issued a notice, prohibiting other Falun Gong practitioners working there from attending her memorial service.
Ms. Ji Yingmei
Taking Up Falun Gong Again
When Ms. Ji, who worked at the oil and gas transportation center of Shengli Oilfield, was found to have late-stage cervical cancer in June 2019, she was told that she only had three months left to live.
In desperation, she remembered Falun Gong and how her stomach condition, neck problem, and severe insomnia disappeared when she practiced it before the persecution started. With a strong desire to live, she decided to practice Falun Gong again.
Shortly after she began to do the Falun Gong exercises, the doctor found that her tumor was shrinking very quickly. She recovered so fast that the doctor had to completely revise her treatment plan.
When Ms. Li later started chemo-therapy, she didn’t experience any pain. She instead had good appetite, gained nearly 20 pounds, and didn’t look like a cancer patient at all.
Six months later, she had completely recovered and returned to work. Her colleagues were amazed to see how she was full of energy after surviving a terminal disease.
Arrested with Her Mother
Ms. Ji’s mother, Ms. Bai Xingwen, was arrested on July 15, 2021 after the police suspected her of putting up a Falun Gong banner a month earlier, on May 8. Ms. Ji and her younger sister were also seized on the same day. The police ransacked Ms. Ji’s home and confiscated her Falun Gong books, dozens of Falun Gong magazines, and a tablet.
When being interrogated at the Haibin Police Station, Ms. Ji was extremely scared. She was in a confused state and deceived by the police into answering their questions with false information provided by them.
Ms. Ji, her sister, and their mother were all released on bail not long after their arrests.
Seeking Justice
To seek justice, Ms. Bai and Ms. Ji submitted a request to the Procuratorate on October 19, requesting to have their cases dismissed. They also filed a complaint against the police for violating the law in handling the cases. The officers listed on the complaint included Ren Anyuan, director of the Domestic Security Office; Yin Jun, deputy director of the Domestic Security Office; Liu Luying; Ma Yuqiang; and Song Mingxuan of Chaoyang Police Station.
The police retaliated by arresting Ms. Ji again at 7 a.m. on November 6, 2021, alleging that she had violated the public security law. She was taken to the Chaoyang Police Station. A female officer searched her, measured her height and weight, and forced her to sit in an interrogation chair.
After taking Ms. Ji to the hospital for a COVID-19 test at 9 a.m., the police took her to another hospital at 11 a.m. for a blood test, electrocardiogram, and blood pressure measurement. She was given ten days at the Binhai Lockup, where she wasn’t given toilet paper and had to use a used toothbrush.
Ms. Ji’s family hired a lawyer for her. When the lawyer went to visit her on November 9, the guard on duty claimed that they would only allow video meetings during the pandemic, but they didn’t have all the equipment set up yet. Meanwhile, Ms. Ji’s family went to the Chaoyang Police Station to demand a copy of her administration detention notice, but their request was denied. The request filed by her lawyer to release her, given the fact that she had just recovered from cancer not long prior, was also denied.
After Ms. Ji was released on November 16, the law firm that her lawyer worked at was notified by the local justice bureau that the lawyer wasn’t allowed to take any Falun Gong cases in the future, and that he also had to write a formal statement agreeing not to represent Falun Gong practitioners. The justice bureau pressured the law firm again in early December and still ordered the lawyer to sign the statement. The law firm also held a “study session” and required all its lawyers to attend. Under tremendous pressure, the lawyer was forced to drop Ms. Ji’s case.
On January 20, 2022, Ms. Ji filed a complaint against the police for detaining her. She was notified by a text message five days later that her complaint was rejected.
Financial Persecution
On November 17, 2021, the second day after Ms. Ji was released from the ten-day detention, her workplace ordered her to come over to receive some “education,” because she didn’t sign the statement to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Ji reported to her supervisor on November 22 and was ordered to sign the statement. After she refused, her supervisor took out a letter signed by 16 managers of her workplace, which stated that she must take leave from work and attend “study sessions,” and that she would only be allowed to return to work after she signed the statement. Her salary was also suspended.
Between December 12 and 13, 2021, Wen Shuming, an official from the Shengli Oilfield 610 Office, kept trying to pressure Ms. Ji to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Ji filed a case with Dongying Labor Dispute Arbitration Commission on January 6, 2022, demanding that the agency hold her workplace accountable for denying her the right to work.
While the commission informed her on January 17 that they had accepted her case, they called her again on March 22, saying that her case was dismissed, as it wasn’t qualified for the investigation. Ms. Ji questioned what was wrong with her case, but the caller couldn’t answer.
Ms. Ji and her family went to the commission on March 28, trying to find out what had prompted them to drop her case. She said that she didn’t do anything wrong by practicing Falun Gong or make any mistakes at work and that it was wrong for her employer to not let her work and to suspend her salary. The front desk staff couldn’t provide any valid reason and never answered her question.
During the entire process, several officers followed and watched Ms. Ji and her family. Once they realized that they were discovered, they put on face masks.
610 Office agents Wen Shuming, his supervisor Zhang, Bi Liguo, and Wang came to harass Ms. Ji again on April 20 and 21, attempting to force her to stop contacting the labor dispute arbitration commission and drop the complaint against the police. She insisted that she was following the law and refused to back off. Wen threatened more severe persecution against her and her mother.
Untimely Death
In addition to denying Ms. Ji the right to work and suspending her salary, Niu Xuewei, the union chairman, also tried to pressure her husband to divorce her. Her husband withstood the pressure and said he wouldn’t leave Ms. Ji.
The tremendous mental pressure nevertheless took a toll on Ms. Ji’s health. Her cancer relapsed and it spread quickly into her lung, bone marrow, and brain.
She began to have a persistent dry cough in April 2022 and had difficulty talking. She was dealt another blow and her health declined quickly after her mother Ms. Bai was tried by the Dongying District Court on July 29. Four months before Ms. Bai’s court hearing, her family was notified that the interrogation records of her two daughters would be used as prosecution evidence against her.
In August, even when Ms. Ji was in critical condition, union chairman Niu still came to harass her, ordering her not to go out to promote Falun Gong during the Communist Party’s 20th Congress in October. Niu also took a photo with her, in order to show that she had indeed come to work on Ms. Ji.
Ms. Ji developed a fever and fell into a coma after her mother was taken into custody at the Hekou Detention Center on September 20. She passed away on October 9.
Related report:
Mother and Daughter Detained for Three Weeks and Counting for Their Faith
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