My sister was sentenced to four years in school and my brother sent nearly 100 letters of complaint: how a Shandong family was forced to confront the law.

Almost 100 letters of indictment.Four years in prison. These are the two most difficult figures in the case of Li Yugyu, who was in the middle of the Shandong Province. The former came from written complaints sent by her brother to the public security, the prosecutor, the courts and higher authorities; The latter was a sentence handed down by the local court on 17 September. The process of seeking redress by an ordinary family, which is paralleled by the outcome already given by the criminal machine, constitutes the most serious reality of this case of persecution of faith.

Li Yugyu-ki is 62 years old. Based on the experience disclosed by Ming Hui Network, on 7 January this year she and other Falun Gong practitioners read the " Turning Wheel " at a friend ' s house, and the police subsequently took a capture action. Two days later, she entered the Pupdong Prison in Qingdao; Arrested on 22 January. One study activity, which had originally taken place in private homes, was pushed by State apparatuses into the course of public security investigations, prosecution of charges and criminal trials. This step goes beyond the political question that is most pertinent to the whole event: why does public power turn one ' s faith and reading into something that would deprive many years of freedom?

The identity of the brother changed in the case. He no longer merely wanted to remember the sister ' s family, but also became a family advocate, writing charges and pursuing decisions at various stages.Family records released on 14 OctoberHe described the material he had sent to various bodies as close to 100 copies. We cannot judge the legal effects of each material directly from the amount sent by mail, but we can see the fact from this continuous flow that repeated letters can become the only and sustainable means of resistance when people cannot trust that they will take the initiative to correct mistakes within power.

This may be seen as a common dispute between a family and a court, but it is clearly a context of lightness. In the long political pressure of the Communist Party against Falun Gong, public security, prosecutors and courts are not always in a relationship of independent checks and balances. For those against whom complaints are made, the problem is often not just to seek better defence strategies, but rather to define personal beliefs as the object of political power, which should have been dealt with. At this point, even if the criminal proceedings are well organized, they cannot automatically answer why the punishment is justified.

There's still waiting at home. According to the family, Li Yugyu ' s mother-in-law is 94 years old and her mother is close to 90 years old. Four years ' imprisonment falls on the judgement, which is the legal figure; The family falls into this family, which means the gap in day-to-day care for the elderly, the reduction in family visits and the absence of a person during the latter springs. For those who are accustomed to talking about “social stability”, these details can easily be excluded from performance reporting. For ordinary people, this is precisely the most concrete price for political decisions.

The same day, the Falun Gong student Sun Chang Ha was also present.Relevant case recordsHe was reportedly sentenced to three years ' imprisonment. The centralization of a multi-person gathering in a region on the same day made it possible to see Li Yugyu no longer as a temporary act by a public security officer, but rather as an organizational control characteristic for a faith-based group. The entry of law enforcement into private life by means of public order and criminal law will eventually turn the law enforcement services into a doorkeeper of the ideological boundaries: decisions about which books can be read, who can sit together and which activities can be punished are made by the organs of the power to enforce them.

The continuing letters of complaint sent by Li Yugyu-Si, in particular, reveal the power asymmetry in the CCP judicial system: the power of the State organs to change a person ' s place of residence, freedom and life for years to come; Families who are punished need to ask the same system to re-examine their decisions. The State always emphasizes “the law”, but if the first penalty is for the exercise of the right to belief and expression, the existence of the law does not automatically bring security of rights.

According to the family, Li Yugyu has appealed after the judgement. She will face the freedom she continues to be restricted; The brother is confronted with letters that are written with the names of the organs and are constantly sent out. What really deserves to be the focus of society is not how many times a family can endure to run, but why a private belief reading can deprive the family of its company, its peace and its confidence in legal remedies at the same time. Political persecution never occurs within the walls of a prison, but it extends to every house forced to wait.