(Minghui.org) Four women from Shulan City, Jilin Province were detained at a courthouse for filing a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party. Police then arrested them and took them to a detention center.
The women–Ms. Cao Guiqin (曹桂芹), Ms. Yang Dianying (杨殿英), Ms. Sun Yanping (孙艳平), and Ms. Tao Yuqing (陶玉清)–all Falun Gong practitioners, are now being held in the Shulan Brainwashing Center.
Arrest and Detention
The four practitioners were detained when they filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin at the Shulan City Courthouse. They were later arrested by Nancheng Police officers, who then raided Ms. Tao's home. The women were held in Nanshan Detention Center for 15 days.
Their families went to the courthouse, police station, and detention center to try to secure their release, but were given the runaround.
When they went to Nancheng Police Station again on June 1, 2015, they were told to go to Nanshan Detention Center. Two police officers at the detention center informed them that the practitioners would be released the next day.
When the family members reached the detention center at 5 a.m. on June 2, they saw the streets lined with officers from the Shulan 610 Office and Beicheng Police Station.
As the four women left the detention center, an officer told them to get into a police car. They refused and headed to their relatives' cars.
The officers dragged Ms. Yang away first and handcuffed her to the police car.
Next, they dragged Ms. Tao away, damaging the car door during the process. Ms. Tao's husband and two relatives tried to reason with the police, but they were beaten, arrested, and taken to Beicheng Police Station.
The four practitioners were later taken to Shulan Brainwashing Center.
Brief Profiles of the Practitioners
Ms. Yang, 53, endured many childhood illnesses and had one of her kidneys removed at 19. She was almost paralyzed due to congenital health problems and heart disease after giving birth. She came across Falun Gong in 1999 but gave it up out of fear when the persecution began. She started practicing again in 2007 and regained her health.
Ms. Sun, 42, started practicing Falun Gong in 1998. She had many ailments when she was young, but they disappeared after she practiced Falun Gong. She has been taking care of her 76-year-old mother-in-law, who is bedridden.
Ms. Tao, 48, lost her mother at a young age. She started to smoke and play mahjong to pass the time. After she took up Falun Gong in 1999, her outlook on life improved, and she began to get along well with her mother-in-law.
Having benefited from practicing Falun Gong, these women wanted to tell others about it, but have been detained and persecuted many times for doing just that.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
