(Clearwisdom.net) Zhang Cuizhen, a woman of 66 years who had retired from teaching at the Benxi Normal School, was persecuted so mercilessly by police in the Benxi Detention Center, Benxi City, Liaoning Province that she died on January 7, 2003.

Her health used to be very poor, but after she began to practice Falun Gong in 1994, she became healthy and felt her whole body was light when walking.

She was sentenced to three years in prison after she went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in October of 1999. She suffered numerous tortures and a lot of pain in prison. As a consequence of the abuse, her health greatly deteriorated and her feet began to fester. The day she was released after serving the full term, her appearance was beyond recognition. She could not climb up stairs. A few days later she lost consciousness and was brought to the hospital for emergency treatment. She regained consciousness after a week of treatment in the hospital.

Nonetheless, during this period of time, the police from Benxi City went to the hospital and illegally took her to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp for three years of "re-education through forced labor," even though the condition of her health was so poor that she was not up to taking the bus for long distances. Because she did not pass the physical examination in the camp, the police ordered her to serve her sentence outside the camp.

After she was sent back home, her health deteriorated further. Then, several collaborators [former Falun Gong practitioners who have gone astray due to brainwashing and torture] came to Ms. Zhang's residence to brainwash her. The additional hounding from this brainwashing drove Ms. Zhang into unconsciousness, so she was sent to the hospital again. This time the emergency measures did not succeed and, on January 7, 2003, at 5 a.m., Zhang Cuizhen passed away in the hospital.