(Minghui.org) A Lanzhou City resident was detained for 15 days, suspended from work without pay, and repeatedly harassed for seeking justice for her husband’s untimely death.

Like her late husband (Mr. Zhao Xudong), Ms. Li Hongping and her parents-in-law practice Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. All of them have been repeatedly arrested since the persecution began in July 1999.

Mr. Zhao died within two months of his arrest in December 2003. He was 36.

Ms. Li, Mr. Zhao, and their daughter

Ms. Li and her mother-in-law, Ms. Bai Jinyu, both filed criminal complaints against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong that resulted in Mr. Zhao’s death.

Lanzhou City Public Security Bureau demanded that Ms. Li and Ms. Bai withdraw their lawsuits and write statements promising to renounce Falun Gong. They refused to comply.

15-Day Detention and Suspension from Work

Ms. Li was walking on the street on May 14 of this year when the police closed in and arrested her. She wasn’t released until 15 days later.

Ms. Li’s employer, Xinkaiyuan (a company affiliated with Lanzhou Petroleum Group), suspended her without pay upon her release. She was also disqualified from applying for financial aid for her daughter’s schooling.

The Chinese Communist Party Secretary at her company also threatened her with termination of employment if she refused to write a statement to give up her belief.

Ms. Li questioned the Party Secretary as to who gave him power to casually fire people for their faith; he admitted he was following orders from Lanzhou City Public Security Bureau.

Ms. Li remains suspended from her work at the time of writing.

Repeated Home Visits

The local street committee in Ms. Li’s neighborhood was also ordered to work on her. Director Chen of the committee kept sending people to her home to try to pressure her into renouncing Falun Gong.

More than a dozen agents descended upon Ms. Li’s home in early July of this year. They left after her daughter, who was home alone, refused to open the door.

A few days later, the committee made two more home visits in one day. Three people came first at around 9 a.m., and Ms. Li declined to open the door. When they returned two hours later, she again drove them away by shouting from inside the door, “Why do you keep harassing me?!”

Director Chen then dispatched two women to sit right outside Ms. Li’s apartment building and ordered three men to seal tight the backdoor of her first-floor apartment.

Ms. Li finally went to argue with Chen, who replied that everything would return to normal as soon as she wrote statements to renounce Falun Gong.

Ms. Li refused to comply and soon found herself followed everywhere she went, even when she took her daughter to see a doctor. Some agents also took pictures of her.

When she protested the harassment and constant surveillance, one agent said, “Well, I dare you to sue us!”

Mother-in-Law Harassed

Director Chen once led three people to Ms. Bai’s house in July of this year. He tried to pressure her and her daughter-in-law to write statements to give up Falun Gong. Ms. Bai turned him down.

Chen Shaoqiu (no relation to Director Chen), the head of the local 610 Office, summoned Ms. Bai to his office in early August. She again refused to break away from Falun Gong.

About eight agents appeared at Ms. Bai’s workplace on August 17 and told everyone that she and her daughter-in-law had gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong several months ago.

Neither Ms. Bai nor Ms. Li had gone to Beijing in recent months. Ms. Bai suspects that the authorities are trying to find reasons to escalate her mistreatment.

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the 610 Office, on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.

Related reports:Additional Information on the Persecution of Mr. Zhao Xudong and His FamilyFamily Members of Mr. Zhao Xudong of Lanzhou City Experience Severe Persecution Following His DeathBelated News: The Death of Falun Dafa Practitioner Zhao Xudong in Lanzhou