(Minghui.org) A 76-year-old Kunming City, Yunnan Province, resident is facing prosecution for telling a man with a leg injury how she recovered from a comminuted fracture in her right leg because she practices Falun Gong.
After Ms. An Shunlian, who has been under house arrest, picked up her indictment at the Xishan District Court on March 20, 2024, she experienced severe pain in her legs and couldn’t walk. Upon hearing about her condition, the judge in charge of her case said that he would send the police to take her to the court on April 10 for a scheduled hearing. It’s not clear whether the hearing took place.
Arrested for Telling a Man about Falun Gong
Ms. An ran into a man in his 50s outside of the Kunming City 902 Hospital at 10 a.m. on August 10, 2023. Noticing two crutches next to him, she asked him what happened to his legs. He told her he fell from a bike six months ago, but his legs still hadn’t recovered. She explained she suffered comminuted fracture in her right leg in a car accident in 2004, but she quickly recovered by reciting the auspicious phrases “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good.”
The man appeared to be frightened when she mentioned Falun Gong and asked Ms. An to leave. Knowing that he was deceived by the communist regime’s slanderous propaganda against Falun Gong, Ms. An didn’t argue with him and left. In less than five minutes, she was arrested by four officers, who also seized her purse.
Ms. An was first taken to the Zongshuying Police Station. One hour later, seven officers took her home and raided it. When they brought her back to the police station, the police ordered her to point to the items they took from her home, and they photographed her. The police handcuffed her during the raid and the interrogation and didn’t remove the handcuffs until her physical examination around 5 p.m. that day. She was found to be unfit for detention but the police still drove her to the Kunming City Detention Center, which refused to admit her. She wasn’t allowed to take a look at the results of her examination.
The police held Ms. An at the Xishan District Police Department overnight. They put her on house arrest the next morning and ordered her to report to the Haiyuan Police Station, which was assigned to monitor her, before allowing her to return home with her son.
Both Ms. An and her husband Mr. Yang Nengwen, also a Falun Gong practitioner, were summoned to the Zongshuying Police Station on August 14. The police again took them to the Haiyuan Police Station to process her house arrest paperwork. Starting at 8 p.m. on August 15, 2023, one officer from the Haiyuan Police Station and two community workers took turns staying outside of Ms. An’s home around the clock. They followed her whenever she went out. One officer waited outside her home to monitor whether other Falun Gong practitioners came to visit her. It’s not clear how long this 24/7 surveillance lasted.
On January 9, 2024, an officer from the Zongshuying Police Station called Ms. An’s son, and ordered her and her husband to report to the police station. When they went there the next day, officer Luo Xiudong told her they were planning to submit her case to the prosecutor the next month. Ms. An insisted that she didn’t violate any law and shouldn’t be indicted.
The police informed Ms. An on January 18 that they submitted her case to the Xishan District Procuratorate and planned to prosecute her.
Complaint Against Police Chief
Shortly afterwards, Ms. An filed a complaint against Li Hui, the chief of Xishan District Police Department. She accused Li and his subordinates of trespassing into her private residence and searching it. She demanded that Li withdraw her case and return the items that were confiscated from her home.
Ms. An wrote in her complaint that before she took up Falun Gong in April 1998, she suffered multiple ailments, including severe stomach condition, lumbar disc herniation, concussion, and hepatitis B. She spent a fortune seeking treatment, but her illnesses kept worsening. After she began to practice Falun Gong, she quickly recovered and also changed from a hot-tempered person to someone who was peaceful and kind. She enjoyed the serenity of doing the Falun Gong exercises with other practitioners before the persecution began. Witnessing her changes, her husband also began practicing. Their family was filled with harmony and hope.
In September 2004, she was hit by a truck while crossing the street. She sustained a comminuted fracture in her right leg and her life was in danger. The doctor said that even if she could keep her leg, she would never be able to walk normally. With her strong faith in Falun Gong, she recited the auspicious phrases “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good,” and listened to the lectures given by Falun Gong’s founder. She was soon able to sit up, and began doing the Falun Gong exercises. In six months, she completely recovered and was able to walk without using a crutch. She hoped others could benefit from Falun Gong like she did. That’s why she took every opportunity to tell people her story.
It’s not clear whether she ever received a response regarding her complaint against the police.
Complaint Against Prosecutor
On February 17, 2024, one month after the police submitted Ms. An’s case to the Xishan District Procuratorate, prosecutor Du Xiulian called her and ordered her to pick up some paperwork regarding her case in four days. Ms. An went there on February 21 and gave prosecutor Du a letter, urging her not to indict her. Du refused to accept it. She also tried to depose Ms. An, who refused to comply or sign her case file.
Ms. An intended for her husband to represent her as a non-lawyer family defender, but when she approached Du on February 29, the latter refused to accept her application and threatened to arrest her.
Ms. An returned to the Xishan District Procuratorate on March 5. Du wasn’t in office. A male staff member told Ms. An that if she insisted on submitting her materials, she should give them to the Xishan District Police Department. She believed him and went to see officer Luo Xiudong who was in charge of her case, the next day. Luo refused to take the materials and told her that since they already submitted her case to the procuratorate, it was up to the prosecutor to determine whether to indict her or not.
Ms. An wrote a complaint against prosecutor Du, after she found out Du indicted her on March 5 and claimed to have considered her request to dismiss her case.
Ms. An received a call on March 14, informing her to pick up her indictment. But the caller refused to tell her where to go. He hung up the call when she asked for his ID number.
When Ms. An went to the procuratorate on March 18 to submit the complaint against prosecutor Du, she refused to accept it. Ms. An also contacted the Xishan District government and the higher-level Kunming City Procuratorate, still to no avail.
Also on March 18, the Xishan District Court called Ms. An’s son and ordered him to take her there. She went to the court on March 20 and was given a copy of her indictment and information regarding her basic legal rights and how to obtain legal representation, all of which should have been delivered by prosecutor Du. Ms. An handed the complaint against prosecutor Du to Tian Mengxia, a staff member from presiding judge Deng Rui’s office. Tian didn’t accept it and didn’t allow Ms. An to explain the situation.
Ms. An received a call from the court on April 2 to pick up the subpoena for her to appear in court on April 10. She refused to comply. The court then called her son and ordered him to pressure her. It’s not clear whether he complied or whether Ms. An went to the court for the hearing.
Past Persecution
This isn’t the first time that Ms. An has been targeted for her faith.
Extortion in 2004
In September 2004 when Ms. An was hospitalized for the injury in her right leg, another patient sharing the hospital ward with her reported her for telling them about Falun Gong. Ma Bin of the Wuhua District Domestic Security Division attempted to arrest her, but relented upon seeing her injury. Ma also ordered Ms. An’s supervisor at work to come to the hospital and forced him to treat Ma and his three fellow officers for lunch, gift them some expensive cigarettes and pay 1,600 yuan as her bail bond.
Pension Suspended and Forced to Sign Statement to Renounce Falun Gong in 2005
Ms. An and her husband Mr. Yang talked to an elementary school student about Falun Gong on May 29, 2005 when they were out for a walk. The student reported them, resulting in their arrests by officers of the Gaoxin Police Station. Mr. Yang was held at the Kunming City First Detention Center for a month.
Meanwhile, the Wuhua District 610 Office, Political and Legal Affairs Committee and local police attempted to pressure Ms. An to write a statement to renounce Faun Gong through her workplace. When she refused to comply her pension was suspended for two months. The authorities also found her daughter and son, threatening them with their jobs if they failed to persuade Ms. An to write the renouncing statement. Under tremendous pressure, her daughter and son wrote the statement themselves and went to her home. While her daughter held a knife and threatening to cut her own wrist, her son forced her to sign the statement.
Two-Year Forced Labor Camp Term in 2007
Ma Bin of the Wuhua District Domestic Security Division and four others broke into Ms. An’s home on April 26, 2007 and confiscated her Falun Gong books and informational materials. They kept her at the Wuhua District Detention Center for a month and gave her two years at the Yunnan Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp. Her pension was suspended. Although the payment was reinstated after she was released, it was reduced by 20%.
Because she was tortured in the labor camp, Ms. An developed cataract and lost most of her vision. After an operation, she had retinal inflammation and was hospitalized for another month. Despite the treatment, she went completely blind in her right eye.
She also developed severe swelling and pain in her limbs. She was in so much pain that she couldn’t walk or hold a bowl when she ate. Bloody blisters appeared around the joints over her body. When the guards took her to the hospital, the doctor suspected it was either bone tuberculosis or lupus, but he could only confirm it through a test shot, which would require her to return to the hospital for diagnosis 24 hours later. The guards refused to commit to bringing her back and took Ms. An back to the labor camp without a firm diagnosis. Ms. An asked to have her daughter take her back to the hospital, but this was also rejected by the guards. She did the Falun Gong exercises to alleviate the pain and eventually recovered.
One Month Detention in 2010
On April 22, 2010, only a year after Ms. An’s release, director Ma harassed her and her husband. When the couple refused to go with him to the Gaoxin Police Station, Ma ordered the officers to raid their home and detain Ms. An at the Wuhua District Detention Center for a month.
Another Arrest in 2011
Ms. An distributed informational materials about Falun Gong on a bus on December 15, 2011, and handed a copy to a plainclothes officer. The officer arrested her and called the Wuhua District Domestic Security Division. Director Ma ordered officers of the Macun Police Station to raid her home and take her to the hospital for a physical examination. She was found to have dangerously high blood pressure, but the police still took her to the Wuhua District Detention Center. Only after the detention center refused to admit her, did the police inform her daughter and son to pick her up.
Two Prison Sentences in 2016 and 2020
Ms. An and her husband were arrested again on April 24, 2016 when they distributed Falun Gong materials at a farmers’ market. The police raided their home and released them on bail. Prosecutor Li Jun of the Xishan District Procuratorate indicted them a year later in April 2017. On November 4, 2017, judge Wu Zhaomin of the Xishan District Court sentenced Ms. An to one year with two years probation and a 3,000-yuan fine, and Mr. Yang to six months with one year probation and a 2,000-yuan fine. Judges Liu Xiaofang and Zhang Aihua, as well as the judge’s assistant Zhu Ting and court clerk Peng Qian also signed the verdicts. The couple was ordered to participate in the community correction program during their probation.
The couple was reported by two young men on April 15, 2020 for talking to them about Falun Gong. They were arrested by officers from the Wuhua Police Station, had their home ransacked and then released on bail. Prosecutor Wei Wei and his assistant Zhang Yuelin of the Wuhua District Procuratorate indicted them in late July 2020. Judge Li Zhongyuan of the Wuhua District Court on August 17, 2020 sentenced Ms. An to two years with two years probation and a 5,000-yuan fine and Mr. Yang was sentenced to nine months with one year probation and a 2,000-yuan fine. They were also ordered to participate in the community correction program during their probation.
Related Reports:
76-Year-Old Yunnan Woman Placed Under House Arrest for Telling a Man “Falun Dafa Is Good”
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