(Minghui.org) Five Falun Gong practitioners—Ms. Li Liying, Ms. Jiang Ronglian, Ms. Jiang Guilian, Mr. Xue Ping, and Mr. Chang Chunqiu were illegally arrested on August 22, 2013 for their faith. They were detained in a brainwashing center.

The five practitioners are residents of Erdao Town, Jilin City, Jilin Province. Ms. Li is about 60 years old. She and Ms. Jiang Ronglian live in Wanxiang Village. Ms. Jiang Guilian lives in Xinjia Village. Mr. Xue Ping and Mr. Chang Junqiu live in Erdao Village.

Around 8 p.m. on August 22, a group of plainclothes officers from the Fengmeng Domestic Security Division and Erdao Police Station, dressed in civilian clothes, arrested the five practitioners and confiscated all of their Falun Gong books. They beat Ms. Li, wrestled all five practitioners to the ground, and handcuffed them.

The police escorted them to Erdao Police Station, where they interrogated the practitioners and tried to find out where the books had come from.

At 10 p.m. the same night, the five practitioners were sent to the Shahezi Brainwashing Center. Ms. Jiang Guilian, Mr. Xue, and Mr. Chang are still detained there.

Ms. Li Hospitalized after Being Beaten

After being beaten again on the morning of August 24, Ms. Li Liying was unconscious and had convulsions. A doctor was called in to examine her and said that her life was in danger, sending her to the hospital for emergency treatment.

After she returned from the hospital, Ms. Li was told that she would be sent to a detention center or forced labor camp if she did not renounce her belief in Falun Gong.

Overwhelmed by the intense pressure, Ms. Li felt helpless and allowed the authorities to place her fingerprint on the guarantee statement stating that she would no longer practice Falun Gong. She was then released.

Just a few minutes after Ms. Li returned home, Li Zhiping and another officer from the Erdao Police Station came to her home and tried to arrest her husband, Mr. Wang Jing, but they did not succeed.

Shahezi Brainwashing Center Set Up to Persecute Practitioners

The Shahezi Brainwashing Center is a three-story building with a dozen rooms, located in Xiaoguang Village, Jiling City. It was originally called the Institute of Social Welfare, but the name was then changed to Jilin Legal Education Training Center. (Editor's Note: “Legal Education Training Center” is a name the communist regime often uses for brainwashing facilities).

All along, it's true purpose has been to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The center is directly controlled by the Jilin 610 Office.

The brainwashing center holds several brainwashing sessions each year. The center’s big iron gate is always locked, and police monitor the building day and night. The 610 Office is located inside.

The practitioners are kept isolated from each other, one person in each room. The assigned “instructors” alternate between using coersion and threats to “transform” practitioners. They intimidate and torture practitioners in an attempt to force them to renounce their belief.