Liu Shuyan - 刘淑艳
(Minghui.org) A 61-year-old woman died less than 10 months after her admission to prison to serve three years for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Ms. Liu Shuyan, a Yushu City resident, was arrested for her faith on November 26, 2015. Her lawyer’s request to defend her in court was denied, and she was tried on March 29, 2016 without legal representation.
She was sentenced to three years in prison weeks later, on April 11. When her daughter protested the unfair trial and wrongful conviction, the younger woman was arrested.
Ms. Liu was transferred to Jilin Province Women’s Prison in Changchun City on July 7, 2016. She was forced to sit on a “small stool” for extended periods of time. When she went on a hunger strike in protest, the guards force-fed her for 12 straight days. Her health quickly deteriorated, and she became critically ill in early April 2017.
The prison authorities, however, didn’t send her to the hospital until April 20. They called Ms. Liu’s daughter after a medical examination concluded that she needed surgery. Having read reports of live organ harvesting of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners, the daughter insisted that the doctors wait for her arrival before performing an operation on her mother.
It was already afternoon by the time the daughter rushed from Yushu City to the hospital in Changchun City. She saw that her mother was slipping in and out of a coma and had a very weak pulse. The doctors admitted that there was no hope.
The daughter decided to forgo the surgery and have her mother transferred to a local hospital in their hometown of Yushu City. The prison authorities, though, insisted she apply for her mother’s medical parole first.
The parole approval wasn’t issued until 1 p.m. the next day. Ms. Yu died just a few hours after she was brought back to her hometown. She took her last breath at 8:50 p.m. on April 21, 2017.
