(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhang Meiying from Liyang City was released from Nanjing Women's Prison on May 4, 2016, after serving three years in prison for her belief in Falun Gong. Her ordeal is not over, however. Officers from the Liyang City 610 Office and the Ximen Police Station have frequently harassed her at home.
Arrested and Imprisoned
Ms. Huang Wenqin, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was followed by the police when she went to visit Ms. Zhang on November 8, 2013. The police forced their way into Ms. Zhang's home, arrested both women without an arrest warrant and ransacked the home.
Ms. Huang was sentenced to four years in prison and died a year later.
Ms. Zhang was sentenced to three years in prison and was taken to Nanjing Women's Prison. She was forced to attend brainwashing sessions, tortured and forced to do hard labor. As a result of torture and abuse, she lost the ability to walk and still has pain in her legs. Her pension was also suspended.
Ms. Zhang recounts her experiences below.
I was transferred to Nanjing Women's Prison on July 4, 2014, and held in the No. 10 Prison District, which is part of the Strict Discipline Group. Although the prison was named a “Civilized Prison,” in reality, it was a living hell.
According to the prison rules, inmates are not supposed to work overtime, but the guards ignored this and assigned everyone a heavy workload. Many inmates developed cervical spondylosis and were in a lot of pain from having to constantly work overtime until they were exhausted.
Falun Gong practitioners who did not finish their assigned work would lose performance points (points given to inmates to reduce their prison term) or sent to a so-called “study session” where they were forced to run drills outside regardless of the weather.
The guards also instigated criminal inmates to torture practitioners. Those who persecuted practitioners the most severely were rewarded with a lot of performance points.
The two most “capable” inmates were assigned to monitor me 24/7, even when I went to the restroom. A younger inmate joined them at night.
I was forced to sit still on a small bench for a long period of time and watch propaganda videos about the Chinese Communist Party. Afterwards, I had to write a “thought report.” I was also forced to read propaganda books about the Party, prohibited from talking to others and prevented from getting enough sleep. One of the inmates would purposely sit near my head when I tried to sleep.
Inmate Chen Shuangmei wanted to get a lot of performance points, so she was active in torturing me. She reported me to the guards if I spoke to others, restricted my movements and did not allow me to even get water a drink of water.
After one month of being under constant mental pressure, I became dizzy and frequently forgetful. I would forget what I wanted to say next after finishing the first sentence. Sometimes I lost consciousness.
One day on August 20, 2014, my legs gave out and I could not walk. I recovered two months later and was immediately assigned to do hard labor in a workshop.
Chen Shuangmei tried harder to persecute me to receive performance points. She assigned me difficult jobs and then verbally abused me when I could not deliver. She replaced my stool with a broken one and minimized my work space, forcing me to sit with my body turned at an awkward angle. As a result, I had severe pain in my lower back.
My legs gave way again on November 11, 2014, and I was taken to the hospital. I was given a routine check-up, but did not receive any treatment.
I was still forced to do hard labor. The inmates pushed me in a small metal cart to the workshop.
My left leg later recovered, but my right leg still had no strength. I continued to have pain in both legs.
My legs gave way for the third time on November 20, 2015, but I was still forced to do hard labor until I was released in May 2016. My legs had not recovered, so I had to be carried out of the prison with the help of two people.
Parties involved in persecuting Ms. Zhang:Zhou Zhenyun (周振云), officer of Liyang City 610 Office: +86-13301497020 (C), +86-519-87261817 (O)Chen Wenxin (陈文新), officer of Ximen Police Station: +86-13801492345 (C), +86-519-7896168 (O)
