Na Lyu and Wei Lyu are sisters. The older sister Na lives in New York, and Wei lives in Harbin city in China’s northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
Na was notified by family members in China that Wei had been taken away from her apartment on July 11 by a dozen police, who had broken into Wei’s apartment in Harbin city. At the time, the police ransacked Wei’s home and found a box with about 300 pamphlets about Falun Gong.
According to Wei’s neighbor, who witnessed the police ransacking, one police officer looked at the pamphlets and said “the count is enough.”
Nationwide Persecution Continues
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline that combines meditative exercises and moral teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The Chinese communist regime considers Falun Gong’s moral teachings and popularity a threat to its rule, and has been waging a brutal campaign to “eradicate” the peaceful meditators since July 1999.Wei is a practitioner of Falun Gong. She used to be an English teacher at a high school. But because of the persecution, Wei was arrested in 1999, 2000, and 2007. She lost her job in 2007.
According to minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that records the persecution of Falun Gong in China, the Chinese police used possession of Falun Gong materials as a reason for the arrest. The judicial system under the Chinese Communist Party can sentence a practitioner to prison simply because of that reason.
Based on Chinese law, possession of Falun Gong books and materials is legal.
“The arrest of my sister is not an isolated incident, but a part of an organized police operation,” said Na. She counted the number of arrests that were reported on minghui.org. “There are over 300 arrests in Heilongjiang province in the month of July.”
Na said, “there appear to be more and more arrests happening in other provinces from north to south, in Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, and Shandong provinces.”
‘Rescue Efforts Will Continue’
As soon as she heard about her sister’s arrest, Na began appealing to U.S. elected officials for help.At a townhall held by New York State Senator James Skoufis on Aug. 4, Na met with the senator and his deputy chief of staff. In an email response to Na on Aug. 8, the deputy chief of staff wrote in an email seen by The Epoch Times, “I have now submitted this case over to [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.)] office, as they serve at a federal level, which is necessary for this case type, involving the Department of State.”
Skoufis’ office is currently waiting for a response from Schumer’s office.
Around the same time, Na also contacted Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s office. A staff member, who is the constituent advocate, referred Wei’s case to the Office of Religious Freedom in the Department of State.
Meanwhile in China, Wei has been held in a detention center in Harbin. No one is allowed to visit her, not even her lawyer.
Wei’s brother traveled from southern China to Harbin city but was not allowed to see his sister.
The police told him, “Tell your sister [Na Lyu] not to make a big fuss about it overseas,” referring to Na’s efforts to rescue Wei from the United States.
Na said, “This gives me more confidence, and I will continue making a big fuss about it.”
On the 37th day of Wei’s arrest, her case was moved to the procuratorate. The police are still “finding more criminal evidence,” Na said.
“The rescue efforts will continue until the day my sister is released,” Na said.
