(Minghui.org)
Background
( Excerpt from http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2013/5/2/139144.html )
"In 2003, to rescue Mr. Zhou Xiangyang, her boyfriend at the time, Ms. Li submitted to the prison authorities her request to marry him. To stop the prison from persecuting him, Ms. Li appealed on his behalf despite a tremendous amount of pressure along with the risk of being arrested. She was arrested and sentenced to 15 months of forced labor. Ms. Li resumed appealing for her husband after she was released. Mr. Zhou also put forth his best effort to resist the persecution in prison. He went on a year-long hunger strike and was eventually released. The young couple finally reunited after spending seven years apart as a result of the persecution.
"However, less than a year later, Mr. Zhou was again arrested and sent to Gangbei Prison, where he was brutally tortured. Ms. Li began another round of appeals and rescue efforts. She wrote an open letter, “A Young Couple's Journey: Zhou Xiangyang's Fiancée Appeals Seven Years for His Release,” which touched thousands of people, many of whom were moved to tears. Many of them started a petition to rescue Mr. Zhou: 2,300 residences in the nearby 10 towns and villages signed the letter asking that Mr. Zhou be released and those responsible for the torture be investigated."
Ms. Li Shanshan, who was given two years of forced labor for rescuing her husband, finally left the Hebei Women's Forced Labor Camp on November 8, 2013. This historical moment demonstrates the disintegration of this vicious forced labor camp.
Prior to Ms. Li's release, her husband and mother-in-law had pleaded for her release at the gate of Hebei Women’s Forced Labor Camp for two months. They told people how Ms. Li had waited for her husband for seven years, how she submitted her application to marry her incarcerated fiancée, but how she herself was incarcerated in Tianjin City Prison, for her efforts in rescuing her husband.
Ms. Li wrote an open letter to the public, and over two thousand people signed the letter showing their support. They also told people how Ms. Li had been persecuted by the Tangshan Domestic Security Bureau, which sentenced her to forced labor, and how Ms. Li was still being incarcerated in the forced labor camp even though the forced labor system in China was being dismantled.
Ms. Li finally left the labor camp with dignity and reunited with her family. The walls of the labor camp have fallen, its iron gates lying on the ground. The labor camp is covered with debris and garbage as if to say that after committing countless crimes against Dafa, this notorious labor camp is vanishing from the world, but its crimes have forever been recorded in history.
On the day Ms. Li was to be released, more than a hundred people waited outside the labor camp to take her home. Four police officers from Tangshan City Domestic Security Bureau were also waiting for Ms. Li, intending to take her away. However, gave up their plan in the face of the large group of courageous practitioners.
The labor camp also tried to threaten Ms. Li’s friends and family, only to discover that they were not scared at all.
Before walking out of the labor camp, Ms. Li was stopped by the guards, who attempted to prevent her from leaving. At this time, over one hundred voices shouted from outside the labor camp, “Shanshan, come out! Shanshan come out!” The forces of persecution collapsed at that instant.
If the scene had been videotaped, it would have been recognized as a historic moment. It was a magnificent scene.
A relative of hers presented her with a bouquet of lotus flowers as an analogy of her purity and nobility. Tears rolled down Ms. Li’s cheeks. She suffered from the persecution because of her compassion and kindheartedness. She was incarcerated because she tried to rescue her husband. She did not submit to the vicious forces. She demonstrated the beauty of life and the noble purity of her soul.
A lawyer wrote in his blog, "When being incarcerated in prison has become an honor for the citizens, the government is hopeless."
The labor camp guards and police officers from Tangshan Domestic Security witnessed the scene in awe.
The crowd saw Ms. Li getting into a car with her family and drive away. After seven years, she has finally returned home.
At this moment, the guards were dumbfounded, discouraged, and silently turned away in despair. Hopefully, their souls have been touched by the scene, and their hearts awakened so that from this moment on, they will no longer participate in the persecution of Dafa. Meanwhile, this scene may also help them to realize that by being members of the forced labor system they were accomplices of the vicious forces to persecute kindhearted people.
Related articles: Deeply Touched by Her Faith, 900 Tangshan Residents Sign Petition Calling for Ms. Li Shanshan's Release Mr. Zhou Xiangyang Not Allowed to Visit His Wife in Forced Labor Camp Ms. Li Shanshan Sent to Forced Labor, Denied Family Visitation for Six Months Ms. Li Shanshan Sentenced to Forced Labor Again, Tangshan Residents Try to Rescue Her, Collecting 528 Signatures So Far Ms. Li Shanshan Arrested by Tangshan Domestic Security Division (Photos)