Ms. Sun Min, 39, Beijing

Name: Sun Min (??)
Gender: Female
Age: 39
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 22, 2009
Date of Most Recent Release: Died in Custody
Date of Death: April 22, 2009
Province: Beijing
City:Fengtai District
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xuanwu District Police Station

Case Details: 

Ms. Sun Min and her husband Mr. Wu Yang were living in Beijing, having fled from Inner Mongolia to avoid persecution by local officials who knew they practiced Falun Gong.

On April 22, 2009, police abducted Ms. Sun from her home after her husband had been detained for distributing DVDs related to Falun Gong and her number was found in his phone. The couple was interrogated and within hours, Ms. Sun was dead.

Sources inside China who viewed the body reported marks from electric batons and blows with a heavy object. The police admitted to her death in a notice to her family, but in an effort to avoid liability, claimed that they had found her dead on April 23 after she fell from her apartment. A number of inconsistencies in the authorities’ account pointed to efforts to cover-up the true circumstances of her death.