Wang Guilan, another representative who presented a petition to the Chinese communist regime, was arrested on October 14 following the arrest of Liu Jie.
On October 8, Liu Jie, Wang Guilan, Cheng Yingcai, and Liu Xueli represented more than 12,000 petitioners from 30 provinces in China in submitting a public appeal letter to China’s president Hu Jintao via express mail and publication on the Internet. The petition appeals to the authorities to protect citizens’ rights granted by the Constitution, to govern the country according to the Constitution, and to abolish the labor camp system.
After the petition was published, the four representatives immediately hid in different locations to avoid being arrested by the authorities. However, Liu Jie from Heilongjiang Province was arrested by the police in Beijing on October 11, and Wang Guilan informed a friend that she was arrested by the Enshi City police on the night of October 14.
The other two representatives could not be contacted by their public or confidential phones the afternoon of October 15.
Arrested but Missing
Currently, no one knows Liu Jie’s whereabouts. Her son has been looking for her everywhere in Beijing, but the Beijing authorities say Liu has been sent back to her hometown—Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. Liu’s husband has not been able to locate her in Harbin either.
Earlier Appeals
Back in 2001, Wang attempted a self-immolation out of anger since a court handled her case illegally and she was subject to beatings and insults. The self-immolation has left her face disfigured.
She has also been imprisoned in a local labor camp for 15 months because she appealed with other petitioners in front of the United Nations Office in Beijing in 2005.
After she published the petition with three other representatives on October 8, she told The Epoch Times that she wants to be a pioneer in promoting the legal system so that future generations will not have to undergo similar experiences.
“Now there’s nowhere to redress an injustice. Government officials deceive their supervisors and cheat their subordinates. They often imprison innocent people. There’s no other choice but to collect everyone’s power to verify this fact,” said Liu.
Friends Read Free