(Minghui.org) A couple in their 70s in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, were each sentenced to two years in 2017 for their faith in Falun Gong. They were both released without serving their full terms, and now the authorities are attempting to take them back into custody. After the husband was denied admission due to his poor health, the wife was forced to go into hiding.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Dou Yansheng and Ms. Hong Guimei were arrested at home at 7 a.m. on July 20, 2017. A dozen officers confiscated their computer, printer, and cellphone. Due to his high blood pressure, Mr. Dou was detained in the hospital. Ms. Hong was taken to the Erzhigou Detention Center. Their daughter wasn’t allowed to visit either of them.
After the Dongxihu District Procuratorate approved the couple’s arrests on August 28, their lawyer applied to have Mr. Dou released on bail for medical treatment, but the prosecutor never responded to the request.
The prosecutor later returned the couple’s case to the police twice for insufficient evidence before indicting them. He continued to deny the family’s requests for the couple’s release, despite their health.
The couple’s lawyer also filed a complaint against the prosecutor but to no avail.
The couple were later each sentenced to two years with a 5,000-yuan fine by the Dongxihu District Court. Their pension during the two years (from July 20, 2017, to July 19, 2019), totaling hundreds of thousands of yuan, was also suspended by the Jiang’an District Social Security Office.
In prison, both Mr. Dou and Ms. Hong were forced to write statements to renounce Falun Gong against their will and were then released.
Although the authorities promised the couple that they would be left alone after that, Changqing Garden Police Station officers harassed them again at 7 a.m. on July 15, 2020. They urged the police not to participate in the persecution, but the officers refused to listen and confiscated their Falun Gong books and materials and a laptop.
At 10 a.m., they took the couple to the police station. When Ms. Hong refused to let the police collect her biometrics, officers grabbed her arm and collected her information. Her wrists and arms were injured. Both she and her husband were released on bail around midnight.
The police deceived the pair into opening the door by claiming they were taking a census on November 19, 2020. One officer revealed that Ms. Hong was reported for talking to a deli owner about Falun Gong.
Ms. Hong was taken to the Manchunjie Police Station for interrogation. Against her will, the police took her photo and collected her fingerprint and samples of her blood, injuring her in the process.
The police returned to the couple’s home in the afternoon in search of Falun Gong items but didn’t find anything.
Because her family repeatedly demanded that Ms. Hong be released, the police let her go the next day.
After that, the police and residential committee staff members harassed them regularly. The staff members of Dongxihu District Procuratorate also threatened to take them back to prison.
On January 28, 2021, the prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for the couple. Ms. Hong escaped and has been forced to live away from home ever since. Mr. Dou failed the physical exam and was released.
Yang Wufeng and two Changqing Garden Police Station officers went to the couple’s home on March 3 and again on 7 to look for her and threatened her family to report her whereabouts.
Past Persecution
This isn’t the first time that the couple has been targeted for their faith since the onset of the persecution.
In January 2013, Ms. Hong was arrested after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was detained at the Dongxihu District No.1 Lockup for 10 days.
Ms. Hong was arrested again in July 2015 for talking to people about Falun Gong in a park. The police searched her bag and found her ID. She was first held at the Dongxihu District No.1 Lockup for 10 days and then taken to the Jianghan District Brainwashing Center.
In September 2015, Mr. Dou was arrested for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution, and was held at the Jianghan District Brainwashing Center.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Gao Feng (高峰), officer, Changqing Garden Police Station: +86-18602717499Zeng Jianfei (曾剑飞), head of Changqing Garden Police Station: +86-13517236201Wang Su (汪粟), head of Dongxihu District 610 Office: +86-13886007115, +86-15927273890, +86-27-83895971
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related report:
Wuhan, Hubei Province: 24 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced to Prison Since 2017
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