(Minghui.org) Ms. Yu Shaoping, of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was arrested on May 14, 2019 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline also known as Falun Dafa. She was tried by the Dayi County Court on September 11, 2020 and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison with 5,000 yuan fine.
Ms. Yu, 61, was an outstanding music teacher at Beijie Elementary School. She was unhealthy since childhood and had suffered from acute hepatitis, long-term indigestion, neurasthenia, and endocrine disorders. Not long after she started to practice Falun Gong in March 1996, all of her diseases disappeared. She became energetic enough to train her school chorus team and won first prize in the Chengdu City Chorus Competition.
Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Yu has been arrested and detained multiple times in various places including police stations, detention centers, brainwashing centers, and prison.
Her husband, also a Falun Gong practitioner, has been sentenced twice and endured brutal torture in prison. As a result of persecution, he had a stroke in July 2015 and has been paralyzed and incapacitated ever since.
Arrest after Peaceful Appeal in Beijing
Ms. Yu's family of three went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on October 1, 1999. They were arrested and detained in Beijing for one week. They were then taken back to Chengdu and detained for an additional 15 days.
In January 2001, Ms. Yu was arrested and detained again for 15 days. The police came back to ransack her home one night in July. She was brutally beaten at home and taken to the local police station. She was released the next day.
At 1 a.m. one day in the first half of 2002, several police officers used a drill rod to smash the lock of her front door and broke in. Two officers slapped her in the face. They searched around, looking for Falun Gong items.
Interrogated at the Dayi County Police Department
In April 2006, the police broke into Ms. Yu's home and arrested her. She recalled that the police had interrogated and tortured her at the Dayi County Police Department.
“To extract a confession, the police tortured me. They handcuffed my hands behind my back and forced me to sit on a metal chair with my face touching my lap for several hours. I almost fainted and was unable to stand up straight afterwards.”
Torture reenactment: handcuffed in a metal chair
“Then, they handcuffed me to the chair and threatened to hang me up if I did not tell them where I got my Falun Gong materials. I was not allowed to sleep for four days. I was then illegally detained for another 15 days.”
Ms. Yu and her husband were arrested again in mid-September 2007 and detained for more than 40 days.
Persecution in Detention Centers and Brainwashing Center
On the evening of March 9, 2009, Ms. Yu was arrested and taken to Dayi Detention Center. She was transferred to Chengdu Legal Education Center (also known as Xinjin Brainwashing Center) on March 20.
Every Falun Gong practitioner detained in this brainwashing center suffered physical and mental torment. Two inmates were assigned to monitor one practitioner around the clock. They did not allow practitioners to close their eyes, bend their legs, or sit with their legs crossed. They beat the practitioners, starved them, and prohibited them from using the restroom. They destroyed the practitioners' belongings at will. They left the TV on as loud as it would go.
In August 2010, Ms. Yu was taken to Qingxia Detention Center about ten miles away. She was illegally detained there for over three years until she was released in 2012.
Ms. Yu was arrested again in May 2012. The police forced her to kneel down and slapped her in the face with a book. She was shocked with an electric baton until it was out of power. She was then held in a detention center for seven days.
Torture in Chengdu Women's Prison
Ms. Yu was arrested on April 26, 2013, and taken to Dayi Detention Center twelve days later. She was sentenced to three years by Dayi County Court on December 3 and transferred to Chengdu Women's Prison on February 25, 2014.
Ms. Yu described the torture she had endured in Chengdu Women's Prison below.
“Prison guard Zhao Hongmei did not allow me to sleep on August 14 and 15, 2014. She made me stand up all the time on these two days. To make sure I did not close my eyes, she assigned four inmates to watch me in turn.
“Guard Tan Xuemei accused me of not wearing the prison badge or complying with roll call. She beat me with a baton on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, bruising me all over.
“The prison guards instigated criminal inmates to monitor and torture every practitioner. I was watched by two inmates all the time. I was always the subject of both physical and verbal abuse. For example, criminal inmate Dan Mingfang slapped me in the restroom on one occasion and struck my neck until I almost passed out.
“Criminal inmate Xiong Jine often beat me and kicked me at night with all kinds of excuses. Her violent act woke up everyone in the ward. On one occasion, she suddenly pushed me very hard with all her strength while I was not paying attention. I had to grab the bed ladder with all my might to avoid being pushed down from the bed. On another occasion, she hit me in the face with a glass full of water, almost breaking my cheekbone.
Torture Reenactment: Beatings
“Criminal inmate Pu Xiuqiong yelled and insulted me hysterically all day. She threatened me all the time that she could beat me to death and just wrap my body in a mat. She often beat me relentlessly. One time, she suddenly punched me in the head and caused my head to become swollen.
“The prison guards and criminal inmates often tried to brainwash me to get me to give up my faith. They slandered Falun Gong and its founder. They forced me to watch derogatory TV programs and read articles slandering Falun Gong. They prohibited me from talking to others and did not allow me to do the Falun Gong exercises.
“When every effort failed to make me give up my belief, the prison set up a special team, which consisted of several persons including transformation experts from outside. They beat me, shocked me with electric batons and forced me to stand. They starved me and allowed me to go to bed only after midnight, with two inmates constantly pulling my pillows and shaking my head the whole night.
“As a result of torture, I developed high blood pressure. And then they forced me to take medicine. When I refused, they added the pills into my food.
“They often threatened me that there are so many people in China and it’s nothing if I or even my entire family were persecuted to death. They also said that if I did not renounce Falun Gong, they would expel my son from public office and bring him to the prison to transform me.”
Continuous Harassment
Ms. Yu also suffered from financial persecution. After being released from prison on April 26, 2016, her pension saved from more than 40 years of service was suspended.
In early March of 2017, Ms. Yu was harassed by officers from Jinyuan Township Police Station. She had to register with the subdivision security when she went out.
Related reports:
Four Women Detained in Dayi County for Handing Out Falun Gong Informational Materials
Persons Responsible for the Persecution:Yu Tao (余涛), president of Dayi County Court: +86-13980864366Wang Shiwei (王世伟), vice president of Dayi County Court: +86-13980881558Liu Hao (刘昊), deputy presiding judge of Dayi County Court: +86-18180651550
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