(Minghui.org) Ms. Liao Danyin was seized at Futian Port as she returned from Hong Kong to her hometown of Shenzhen on January 8, 2018. The customs officers stopped her after finding in her bag two copies of Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
This is not the first time that Ms. Liao has been targeted for her faith in Falun Gong. She has been arrested multiple times and served three years of forced labor in the past.
Ms. Liao was taken to Fuqiang Police Station in the Futian District in Shenzhen hours after her latest arrest. Her family went there to seek her release but to no avail. The police also videotaped the whole process and dared her family to sue them.
Six officers ransacked Ms. Liao’s home the following day. They claimed that the search was just part of the process and promised to release Ms. Liao in a day or two. Her family visited the police station on January 10 as instructed, only to be told that Ms. Liao has been transferred to Futian Detention Center. They refused to sign her criminal detention notice and hired a lawyer to fight for her release.
The lawyer met with Ms. Liao in the detention center on January 12 and learned that she was assaulted for refusing to cooperate. One officer stomped her on the face, while another put her in a chokehold.
Her family filed a complaint with the Futian District Police Department, but the supervising agency concluded after investigations that no one had beaten Ms. Liao at the police station.
While the police are working to issue a formal arrest warrant against Ms. Liao, her daughter has written a letter urging them to release her mother.
Below is an excerpt of the letter addressed to both Fuqiang Police Station and Futian District Police Department.
“My mother has been practicing Falun Gong for nearly 20 years, and we’ve seen with our own eyes how she has changed. She suffered from asthma and was constantly popping pills. She had to wear thick sweaters even in the summer. My father dreaded returning home from work to see a sick and gloomy wife who couldn’t cook or clean the house.
My mother even contemplated suicide, but everything changed after she began practicing Falun Gong years ago. She became healthy, upbeat, considerate, and even-tempered. I was happy that she could cook for my family again.
If we hadn't witnessed my mother’s improvement, we probably would have been deceived by the state propaganda against Falun Gong. I can’t understand why such a good person is being kept in detention.
We went to the detention center on January 12, but only our lawyer was allowed to see my mother. He came out and told us the heartbreaking news: my mother had been brutalized by the police for refusing to give her fingerprints or let them take her photo.
My mother was beaten by about five officers. A young man kicked her, and an older man stomped on my mother’s face. A third one put her in a chokehold and ripped her clothes.
I urge you to stop mistreating Falun Gong practitioners. Good and evil will be rewarded accordingly. One young officer died just a month after he beat up three local practitioners in their 60s. I do not want you to suffer the same fate.
I was only six when the police first came to our house to harass my mother in 1999. She was arrested several more times in the years that followed. I often cried myself to sleep. I ask that you release my mother so that our family can have a happy Chinese New Year.
I hope the officers who beat my mother will apologize to her. If you are sincere in admitting your wrongdoing, I’ll choose to forgive you, as my mother has always told me to be kind and to not hate anyone.”
