(Minghui.org) Ms. Lu Suping and her son, Mr. Jiang Nan, were Falun Gong practitioners in Linghai of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. They had both benefited greatly from practicing Falun Gong and were illegally arrested on December 8, 2012. Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang were secretly sentenced on August 2, 2013 to three and half years and three years detention, respectively.
Becoming Better People After Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Lu, 56, used to be employed by the Linghai Real Estate Company, but she was laid off some time ago. She had a bad temper prior to practicing Falun Gong and often argued with her mother-in-law. She suffered both physically and mentally during that time.
She began to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance when she started to practice Falun Gong, and the relationship with her mother-in-law improved significantly. When her mother-in-law was sick, Ms. Lu had her stay at her home and she looked after her very well until her mother-in-law passed away. The people in her neighborhood all knew that Ms. Lu was a good daughter-in-law and mother.
Mr. Jiang, 32, graduated from Northeast Normal University. It was difficult for him to find a job without power or wealth in the family. He had been self-employed as a tutor, and work from home. He was very responsible to all of his students, and the parents appreciated his efforts.
Life Was Hard for the Family Due to the Persecution
Ms. Lu's husband worked in the railway department and was also a Falun Gong practitioner. As a Communist Party member, however, he was forced to give up his belief when the Communist Party regime started persecuting Falun Gong in 1999. He passed away due to a cerebral hemorrhage after he stopped practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Lu had to work very hard to support her son when he was studying in college, and life was tough for the family.
Arrested and Tortured in 2002
Ms. Lu was arrested by the LingHai District Police Department on January 9, 2002 when she was telling people the truth about Falun Gong. She was beaten by half a dozen police officers that evening. Her face was deformed and she couldn't open her eyes because they were badly swollen. She wasn't released until 5,000 yuan had been extorted from her. She didn't get the money back until 2005.
Arrested Again and Secretly Sentenced
Ms. Lu, her son Mr. Jiang, her sister-in-law, eldest sister, and Wang Hongli (a teacher in Shuangyang Town) drove to downtown Jinzhou City on December 8, 2012. Their license plate was identified as soon as they entered the city. When their car was about to leave the city, they were intercepted and arrested by Bai Ning, Li Meishan and a group of people from the 610 Officeand the so-called Anti-Cult Division in Jinzhou.
Ms. Lu's sister-in-law, eldest sister and Ms. Wang had over 200,000 yuan extorted from them before they were released, while Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang were detained at the Jinzhou Detention Center.
The Linghai Court didn't notify their family and started a court hearing on August 2, 2013. According to witnesses, Mr. Jiang was handcuffed and shackled. He looked very skinny and it was difficult for him to walk during the court session. Their family tried very hard to find out how they were doing, and finally learned that Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang were secretly sentenced in the middle of November to three and half years and three years of detention, respectively.
Family Members Not Allowed to See Them
The family made an inquiry at the Linghai Court and they were informed that they could visit Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang at the detention center in 10 days. The family went to the Jinzhou Detention Center very early on the scheduled date and waited for quite awhile, but they didn't see Ms. Lu or Mr. Jiang even after 8 a.m. They became angry because the police then told them that Ms. Lu had been taken to Shenyang (without giving the exact location) and Mr. Jiang had been taken to the Jinzhou Prison (i.e, Western Liaoning Prison for new prisoners) at around 6 a.m.
The family made a request to visit Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang, but the police told them that they were required to get approval from the local community office, police station and department, and they had to be notified by the prisons before they went. Thus the family members still weren't able to see them.
Jinzhou Detention Center Extorted Money from the Family
A deputy director (with a family name of Jin) from the Jinzhou Detention Center extorted money from family members who were not practitioners and said, “I can have both of them released if you hand over 180,000 yuan.” The family borrowed the money with high interest loans and gave it to the deputy director. However, neither Ms. Lu nor Mr. Jiang were released after they waited for seven to eight months. They later found out that the trial had been held secretly.
The family went to see the deputy director to get the money back, but she refused to meet with them. She said on the phone, “I am still trying. They should be back in a few days.” The family waited and waited, but they still didn't see Ms. Lu or Mr. Jiang return home. They had to phone the deputy director again, but she didn't answer her phone most of the time. When she happened to pick up the phone, she seemed to be crying, “I have tried my best and all the money has been spent.”
The family said anxiously, “If you don't release Ms. Lu and Mr. Jiang, you have to return all our money. Otherwise we'll sue you.” The family went to see the director of the detention center, and the director worried about a negative impact and promised to return the money. However, not all the money had been returned, although the detention center returned most of it.
Ms. Lu was very weak because of the persecution and she wasn't able to work when she was held at the detention center. The police at the detention center forced her family to pay 1,000 yuan per month in compensation.
