(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old woman in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, has been arrested 15 times for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhang Guijun served two forced labor terms totaling four years. She was subjected to various forms of torture and constant brainwashing during her detention for refusing to renounce her faith.
Most recently, she was sentenced to three years in prison in August 2017 and is currently on medical parole.
Below are some highlights of the persecution she endured between 2006 and 2019.
Three officers broke into Ms. Zhang’s residence in March 2006 and confiscated her Falun Gong books and related materials.
Three months later, Ms. Zhang was arrested at Yahe Township Police Station when she went there to deliver informational materials about Falun Gong. She had hoped to persuade the police to stop taking part in the persecution. The police ransacked her home and held her in Hengren County Detention Center for 40 days before giving her a two-year term at the now-defunct Masanjia Forced Labor Camp without due process.
She was forced to do unpaid labor every day and subjected to constant torture. The medical staff at the labor camp once draw one bag of blood from her without specifying a reason.
The police attempted to extort 5,000 yuan from Ms. Zhang in 2009 when they arrested her again. She refused to comply, and the police gave her another two-year term at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp.
She was taken to a local hospital for a required medical examination, during which a doctor drew one bag of blood from her. She was next driven to the labor camp, where she was made to go through another examination. Another blood sample was collected from her, and she was found not to have met the health standards for admission. The police released her.
Ms. Zhang was arrested a few more times between 2012 and 2016 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong and filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999.
The police ransacked her home and confiscated her Falun Gong books after most of her arrests. She was turned away by the local detention center several times due to hypertension.
Six officers collected her fingerprints, drew a blood sample, and photographed her after arresting her in 2015. As she refused to comply with their demands, it took them more than two hours to collect her biometrics.
In July 2017, Wang Qi, the head of the local Domestic Security Division, pressured her to sign a statement to promise not to talk to people about Falun Gong again. Ms. Zhang refused.
The police arrested Ms. Zhang again on August 30, 2017 and took her directly to a court where the judge sentenced her on the same day to three years in prison. She was given medical parole after she failed the required medical examination for prison admission.
Related report:
Police Arrest Falun Gong Practitioners and Take them to Court the Same Day
