(Minghui.org) Two Falun Gong practitioners from Tonghai County, Yunnan Province, Mr. Zhang Ruolong and Ms. Zhang Guihe, were arrested on July 27, 2012. On October 30, they were prosecuted by Tonghai County Procuratorate. On December 3, they were sentenced to three years and six months of imprisonment by Tonghai County Court.
Throughout the arrests, trials, and sentencing, their families were never notified. It wasn't until Mr. Zhang Ruolong's wife went to visit him at the detention center in February 2013, that she learned her husband had been taken to prison.
Mr. Zhang Ruolong is being held in Yunnan Province First Prison and Ms. Zhang Guihe in Yunnan Province Second Women's Prison.
Mr. Zhang and his wife, Ms. Dong Lizhen, have been persecuted multiple times in the past 14 years of the persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Zhang was sentenced to three years of forced labor, and Ms. Dong to two years of forced labor.
Because her husband is facing persecution again, Ms. Dong appealed to Tonghai County Court and Procuratorate. She asked to file a case to investigate the true criminals and immediately release her husband and return their confiscated personal belongings that the police took when they ransacked the couple's house.
Ms. Dong wrote the following, describing the persecution the couple has endured over many years.
My name is Dong Lizhen and I'm 57 years old. My husband, Mr. Zhang Ruolong, is 58. We're farmers from Tonghai County, Yunnan Province. We live in Yangguang Village, Tonghai County.
At the end of 1998, my husband met practitioners who told him about Falun Dafa. They lent him Zhuan Falun and Master's other lectures. After my husband read them, he felt great. At that time, I was suffering from severe rheumatism and sore hands. I could not wash clothes or do any household chores. My husband said, "Falun Gong is very good. You can practice anywhere and any time. Do you want to give it a try?" So we both got copies of Zhuan Falun and other copies of Master's books. My husband also showed me how to do the exercises.
After several months of studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, I could once again do laundry and the chores. My husband and I followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and never fought for our personal benefits. My family lived in harmony. People in our village all have high regard for our family.
However, in July 1999, the CCP started the persecution of Falun Gong and the two of us have been arrested multiple times.
After July 20, 1999, the head of Yangguang Village threatened my father-in-law to force my husband and me to give up on our practice and to write guarantee statements. We refused.
On February 7, 2000, a few practitioners and the two of us went to Ms. Guo Chunxiu's chicken farm to meet.
Tonghai Domestic Security Division officials heard that we were there. Qian Zhengzong, the head of the division, led the police to each practitioner's home. He interrogated me and demanded to know what we did and who asked us to meet there. After that, he let us go home.
On March 12, 2000, the two of us, along with Ms. Xu Fengyun; Mr. Yang Zhu from Huaning County, Yuxi City; and more than 30 practitioners from Tonghai County went to Tonghai Stadium to have group practice. After we were done with the exercises, Tonghai County 610 Office agents and police from Domestic Security Division took us to the police department and interrogated us all day. They asked us who organized it, who notified us, and they also pressured us to write guarantee statements to give up Falun Gong. We all refused. We were released that night.
From June 28 to July 5, 2001, my husband and I were detained in Yuxi City Party School Brainwashing Center. We were forced to watch the television programs slandering Falun Gong. They tried to force us to write guarantee statements. About 40 practitioners were in the brainwashing center at that time.
From November 7 to 14, 2001, I was detained in Tonghai County Party School Brainwashing Center by officers from Tonghai County Domestic Security Division and the 610 Office. My husband was also held in a brainwashing center in Tonghai County.
On November 9, 2001, local practitioner Ms. Xu Qionghua was sentenced to three years of forced labor. I was also repeatedly interrogated by officers from Tonghai County Domestic Security Division. On September 17, 2002, Ms. Li Xiufang was sentenced to one year of forced labor. I was also often interrogated by officers from Tonghai Domestic Security Division.
Sometimes the interrogation lasted 24 hours. The police took turns interrogating me and did not let me sleep. They forced me to sit up straight throughout the interrogation. I cannot remember how many times they interrogated me like that. My husband was also repeatedly interrogated and put on trial. The two of us have suffered greatly both physically and mentally.
On March 27, 2002, Ms. Shi Xuehui, Ms. Guo Chunxiu, and I were arrested by Qian Zhenzong and taken to local police station. I was detained in Yangguang Police Station overnight and released the next day.
On June 1, 2002, officers from Huaning County Domestic Security Division ransacked the home of practitioner Mr. Yang Zhu and found a book of Master's lectures that I had given to him. The next day, officers from Tonghai County Police Department came to ransack my home and took away many Falun Gong materials and books.
My husband and I were arrested. I was released after being interrogated for 24 hours. My husband was sent to Tonghai County Detention Center. After a month, he was sentenced to three years of forced labor. On July 2, he was sent to Yunnan Province First Detention Center.
After my husband had been detained for a month, I was arrested and taken to Shagouzui Brainwashing Center in Tonghai County. Between October 21 and 29, 2003, I was arrested again by the Tonghai County 610 Office and Domestic Security Division. They sent me to a brainwashing center in the Liluo Hotel in Tonghai County.
My husband was released on June 2, 2005, after being held in Dapingba First Forced Labor Camp, Lufeng County, for three years.
On December 7, 2006, Qian Zhengzong and officers Huang Chengshun and Mu Yanping came to ransack my house. They said someone had reported me. They took many Falun Gong materials and books.
Afterward, I was interrogated multiple times by Tonghai County Domestic Security Division and Yangguang Police Station officers. Sometimes the interrogation went on all day and continued till the next morning. They tried to force me to tell where the Falun Gong materials came from and who I was in contact with.
In the morning on January 25, 2007, Qian Zhengzong and others broke into my home. They took me to Tonghai County Police Department. They deceived me into signing paperwork and sentenced me to two years of forced labor. They took me to Yunnan Province Women's Forced Labor Camp in Dabanqiao, Kunming City.
In the labor camp, I was subjected to brainwashing for half a day, every day. The other half of the day, I was forced to do slave labor. In the morning, I was forced to watch videos and books that slandered Falun Gong. In the afternoon, I was had to clean the toilets, sweep the roads, clean the kitchen, pick up trash, pick fruit, make tea pads, sew curtains, and so on. If I did not finish in time, I was beaten and verbally abused.
They also pressured me to write the guarantee statement. I was often interrogated by many guards all at once. I was released on October 5, 2008.
On July 25, 2012, I was called by Tonghai County Police Department again. In the meantime, Liu Changlin and Luo Zuchao from Tonghai County Police Department came to ransack my house and took away Master's picture, Falun Gong books, brochures, CDs, two computers, and one notebook computer. That night I was released.
On July 26, Huang Chengshun and over 20 officers from Tonghai County Domestic Security Division broke into and ransacked my house again. They took nine cell phones, an MP4, and hard drives. They took my son-in-law to Tonghai County Police Department and interrogated him.
On July 27, my husband, Zhang Ruolong, came back to Tonghai from Kunming. Before he reached home, he was arrested by officers from the Tonghai Domestic Security Division and detained in Tonghai County Detention Center. On August 16, Huang Chengshun and Dong Shaolu came to ransack our house again and took a printer.
Practitioner Ms. Zhang Guihe, 65 years old, lives on Xiushan Street in Tonghai County. She was arrested the same day as my husband. Her house was also ransacked.
On October 30, 2012, Yang Jinglan, a prosecutor from Tonghai County Procuratorate, put my husband and Ms. Zhang Guihe on trial, claiming they disrupted social order because Falun Gong books and materials were found in our homes.
On December 3, 2012, my husband and Ms. Zhang were sentenced to three years and six months of imprisonment by Tonghai County Court. The court did not even notify our families about the trial.
When I went to visit my husband in February 2013, he told me about his sentence. On March 5, my husband was taken to Yunnan Province First Prison, and I haven't seen him since. Ms. Zhang was sent to Yunnan Province Second Women's Prison.