(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Zhu Yazhen, 65 years old, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Erdaobaihe Town, Antu County, Jilin Province. After she started to practice in August 1998, she benefited both physically as well as mentally, and all of her illnesses were eliminated. However, because of her spiritual belief, she has been persecuted by China's communist regime for the past 10 years.

Police went to Ms. Zhu's home in the evening on January 18, 2001. They searched everywhere but did not find anything that they could use as evidence to persecute her with. They then demanded Ms. Zhu to go with them and told her that she could soon return. After arriving at the Baihe Forestry Police Department, however, several people took turns interrogating her, including Political Security head Yu Qingyi, Railway Station Police Station head Chen Zenghai, and others. They did not allow her to sleep for three days. In addition, they deprived her of water, food, and use of the toilet, and kept her chained to a bed. They detained her for 15 days and extorted 3,000 yuan before releasing her.

Several days later, Chen Zenghai deceived several practitioners into going to the Antu County Police Department including Ms. Zhu Yazhen, her sister Zhu Yaping, and Wang Lijun. Ms. Zhu was transferred to a detention center and was detained there for 25 days. On the day of her release, she was forced to pay 250 yuan. Erdao Police Department officials also demanded 3,000 yuan from her and have not yet returned it.

Antu County 610 Office officials held a brainwashing session on July 16, 2001. At that time, Ms. Zhu had just purchased a truckload of cantaloupes and hadn't sold them yet. After officials arrested her and sent her to the brainwashing session, the remaining cantaloupes went bad, causing her a large financial loss. Upon arriving at the brainwashing center, Ms. Zhu had symptoms of illness. She kept vomiting, and later spat up blood. Ms. Zhu then fell unconscious and could not get out of bed.

Ms. Zhu's two sisters, Zhu Yaping and Zhu Yaxian, were arrested in Lushuihe Town of Fusong County in March 2002 while they were distributing materials that clarified the facts about Falun Gong. They were later sent to a forced labor camp and unlawfully given a one-year term.

The Erdao Police Department dispatched three police vans to search Ms. Zhu's and her two sisters' homes on April 15, 2003. Many Falun Gong fliers were found in the area of the railway station the day before, and police suspected that Ms. Zhu and her sisters had distributed them. However, the police agents did not find anything, and they returned empty-handed.

When Wu Jinyou from the Erdao Police Department came to harass them on April 16, 2004, Ms. Zhu Yazhen and her sister Zhu Yaxian were correcting characters in Falun Gong books. Wu Jinyou saw this and immediately notified the police department. Armed police then came and surrounded Ms. Zhu's home. They confiscated her Falun Gong books and even took the red cloth and ribbons that had been used in her son's wedding.

Police from the First Police Station of the Baihe Forestry Police Department arrested Ms. Zhu and her sister Ms. Zhu Yaxian while they distributed Falun Gong materials on December 15, 2005. They took away Falun Gong books, an exercise music cassette, and a music player. The practitioners were kept at the Baihe Forestry Detention Center for 15 days.

Police from Antu County Domestic Security Division ransacked Ms. Zhu's and her two sisters' homes on the afternoon of April 19, 2007, taking away Falun Gong books in the process. All three sisters were arrested and taken to the Antu County Police Department, leaving their 90-year-old mother at home unattended. After an illegal interrogation that spanned 24 hours, police kept them at Antu County Detention Center. Police then sent all three sisters to Changchun Women's Forced Labor Camp on April 30. Ms. Zhu was sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor.

Ms. Zhu suffered a mental collapse because of the severe abuse at the labor camp. When her family learned of her situation, they went to many agencies requesting her immediate release, including the Forced Labor Camp Bureau, Justice Bureau, and the forced labor camp itself. Given the strong requests from her family, Ms. Zhu was released on medical parole after being detained for one month and eight days.