(Minghui.org) The sister of a woman who was sexually assaulted by the police for her faith in Falun Gong is encountering tremendous difficulty in her efforts to seek justice.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Jiang Yongqin, a 53-year-old former college lecturer in Jilin City, Jilin Province, was sexually assaulted by the police, who also force-fed wasabi oil through her nose and placed lit cigarettes into her nostrils following her arrest on June 12, 2022. She has remained incarcerated since, and the authorities have blocked her family and lawyer from meeting with her.
Ms. Jiang's sister, Ms. Jiang Yonghua, mailed several letters of complaint against the police to various government agencies in Jilin Province shortly after. Several officers claiming to be from the Longtan District Procuratorate harassed her on September 9 and attempted to pressure her into dropping the complaints.
On October 31, Ms. Jiang Yonghua went to the Longtan District Police Department, which oversees the Xin’an Police Station in charge of her sister’s arrest, to hand deliver her complaint against the police and also demand that she be allowed to visit her sister.
An officer surnamed Qi received her. “Do you know what we do here?” he questioned her.
Ms. Jiang responded, “Aren’t you the police department? I was told that you are in charge of my sister’s case.”
Qi’s attitude softened a bit. “If you want her to be released on bail, you need to contact the police station that arrested her. They may seek our opinion about it, but that’s still their business and you don’t have a say in it.”
Ms. Jiang replied, “I contacted the provincial procuratorate and was told that the Jilin City Procuratorate was in charge of my sister’s case. I went there and was directed to the Longtan District Procuratorate, which told me that you are in charge, so here I am.”
Qi still attempted to deny that the Longtan District Police Department was in charge of the case.
“My sister was tortured and you need to investigate the police’s sexual assault of her,” Ms. Jiang insisted.
Before she could finish, Qi shouted at her, “What evidence do you have? How can you prove it’s true?” He repeated this frequently during the conversation.
Ms. Jiang told Qi that she was in possession of the video of her sister recounting the sexual assault to her lawyer when he visited her at the detention center. Ms. Jiang then confronted Qi about their barring the lawyer from visiting her sister again after that meeting. Although Qi denied having any involvement in the lawyer visitation issue, Ms. Jiang said that the detention center guards told her it was the decision of his police department.
Qi said, “Whether the lawyer can visit her isn’t our business, nor can we do anything about her being sexually assaulted. You don’t need to spend time filing the complaint with us. Why don’t you have your sister file the complaint herself? She can easily do that at the detention center.”
Ms. Jiang countered, “I have tried to seek justice for her for several months and have always been given the runaround. What channel does my sister have in seeking justice, when she is being detained and even denied visitation with her lawyer?”
Ms. Jiang asked Qi again which agency was in charge of her sister’s case. He responded that it was the supervising agency of the Xin’an Police Station, and the Longtan District Police Department where he worked was directly in charge of that police station.
Qi added, “The police department as a law enforcement agency is elected by the People’s Congress, and we are given the right by the people to arrest any suspect.”
“Then shouldn’t your responsibility be serving the people?” asked Ms. Jiang. “When we suffer injustice, shouldn’t you investigate it?”
“We don’t serve you. And what you said isn’t true,” answered Qi.
On November 15, Ms. Jiang Yongqin’s lawyer learned that her case had been submitted to the Changyi District Procuratorate. According to a policy issued by the Jilin Province Higher Court, all lawyers representing Falun Gong practitioners must obtain permission from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and local Justice Bureau, as well as certifying that they don’t practice Falun Gong themselves, before they can be allowed to review the case documents. It remains to be seen whether Ms. Jiang’s lawyer will be able to review her case and defend her in court.
Related reports:
Jilin Woman’s Uphill Battle Seeking Justice for Her Sister
Former College Lecturer Sexually Assaulted by a Torture Expert
After Her Third Arrest, University Teacher Jiang Yongqin’s Whereabouts Unknown
Teacher Jiang Yongqin of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Sentenced to Prison
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