(Minghui.org) Thirteen people were arrested at a brainwashing center in Shulan City, Jilin Province on October 18. Their “offense” was to demand the release of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ye Shumao (叶树茂), who was snatched from his own shop two days earlier.
As Mr. Ye and his supporters were eventually released one after another, details of their experiences while in police custody began to trickle out.
The brainwashing center guards called in four police officers when pressed by Mr. Ye's supporters to have him released on October 18. The police only allowed Mr. Ye's wife and son to briefly visit him, but ordered the rest of the group to leave the premises.
Before Mr. Ye was brought out to see his family, however, his wife suddenly had a relapse of her heart problem and collapsed. As Mr. Ye's supporters came to assist her, they were swarmed and taken away by another group of police officers.
Mr. Ye's wife was given a quick checkup before being sent home. The remaining 12 supporters were taken to the Shulan Police Station. Their personal belongings including cash, mobile phones, keys, driver licenses, credit cards, and flyers about the persecution of Falun Gong, were confiscated.
Because of the police scare and worries for her husband, Mr. Ye's wife kept having episodes of heart problems and had to be sent to ER three times following the brainwashing center incident. She is still very weak at the time of this report, and cannot even walk downstairs.
The police separated the 12 supporters into two groups—Falun Gong practitioners and non-practitioners—for interrogation.
Two police officers interrogated practitioner Ms. Li Hongying. They threatened to sentence her to three years in prison. They pulled and cuffed her hair to an iron chair. Ms. Li shouted out in pain and started convulsing and breathing heavily. Claiming that she was faking this, those two police officers tightened the cuffs. Ms. Li fainted.
The police officers took her to another room. Trying to resuscitate her, they pinched her acupuncture points, stuffed some pills meant to treat acute heart failure into her mouth, and even held two lit cigarettes to her nose. When she still didn't wake up, they simply carried her to another room and left her there for the night, still unconscious.
Police took her to the hospital the next morning. Doctors said that she had high blood pressure and symptoms of a heart attack, and asked that she remain in the hospital for treatment. Police rejected the request and brought her back. Ms. Li needed rest, yet police assigned a person to pull her out of bed at short, regular intervals.
Police also tried to frame Mr. Ye's son by ordering one of the supporters, Wang Ling, to say that they were organized by the young man. Wang rejected this. “When I heard Mr. Ye was arrested, I came on my own. No one asked me to do it.”
Except for Mr. Ye's wife, who was sent home because of her health condition, the other 12 supporters were detained for various lengths of time. Wang Hui, Wang Ling, and a non-practitioner were detained for 10 days, while Li Hongying was detained for 15 days. Yang Yongmei, Wu Xiulan, and Mr. Ye's son weren't released until 20 days later.
Practitioner Mr. Zhang Guosheng was detained in a room by himself upon being taken to the police station on October 18. Police handcuffed him to an iron chair and stationed two policemen to monitor him. Mr. Zhang managed to escape the next morning.
Four people were released on October 19.
Mr. Ye himself was released 12 days later.