Since the Chinese regime began its campaign against the traditional spiritual practice of Falun Gong, five members of the Chen family of Hebei Province have died as a result of the persecution. On Aug. 5, the sixth family member who practices Falun Gong was reported to have sustained two spinal fractures while in police custody and to be unable to walk.
According to Minghui.org, a website maintained by Falun Gong practitioners that reports on the persecution, Chen Shulan was arrested by police from the Songyuan Police Station in the Changping District of Beijing. She was accused of telling someone about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
There is no law in China against practicing Falun Gong or telling people about it or the persecution. She was tried twice, first on May 23 and then again on Aug. 1, when she was sentenced to four years in prison.
At her second trial on Aug. 1 in Changping District Court, a guard constantly yelled abuse at Chen, refusing to let her turn to look at her daughter. After the trial, Chen was dragged into an elevator, while several guards held her head down to prevent her from talking to or seeing her daughter or other family members.
Four days later, Chen’s daughter received a call from the detention center, asking her to fill out paperwork to enable her to visit Chen at the Beijing Police Hospital. However, when the family and their lawyer arrived at the hospital, staff refused to allow them to see Chen.
They were told that Chen had sustained two spinal fractures and was unable to walk or sit in a wheelchair. The staff maintained that the injuries resulted from a bumpy ride from the courthouse to the detention center.
These injuries are the latest disaster suffered by the Chen family due to the persecution, which the then-head of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin launched on July 20, 1999.
Jiang feared how many people—an estimated 100 million—were practicing Falun Gong, and he also feared the beliefs of Falun Gong would prove more attractive to the Chinese people than the CCP’s ideology.
Falun Gong practitioners live according to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance and strive to become better people.
According to Minghui, on Nov. 28, 2000 more than 20 security officers surrounded the Chen residence and broke in, shouting that they would take the family members to forced labor camps.
Chen’s older brother Chen Aizhong was tortured in Hehuakeng Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, and died on Sept 20, 2001, as a result of the injuries he sustained.
Her younger sister Chen Hongping was viciously beaten, with both her legs being broken, in Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp and. She died on March 5, 2003, from her injuries.
Her other brother, Chen Aili, died on Nov 5, 2004, in Jidong Prison in Fengnan County, Tangshan City, as a result of torture.
In order to avoid further persecution, Chen’s mother Wang Lianrong was forced to leave home, and had to live under very poor conditions. She died on Aug 4, 2006.
Her father Chen Yunchuan changed his name to avoid further persecution. The owner of a large orchard and three houses, he became destitute and ill. He died after being run over by a car in January 2009. The driver was never apprehended.
Chen Shulan has been imprisoned before. She received a seven and a half year prison sentence in 2002 and was released in 2010.
At the time of Chen’s detention, her daughter, Li Ying, was only ten years old. Her father, due to the pressure put on the family, had divorced her mother. Li Ying had to live in an orphanage for two years until extended family could take her in.
Translated by Hsin-Yi Lin, Written in English by Christine Ford
Read the original Chinese article.
