Once Imprisoned for 15 Years, Shaanxi Man Arrested Again for His Faith

(Minghui.org) A Weinan City, Shaanxi Province resident was arrested in March 2021 and taken to the Fuping County Detention Center for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Zhang Junquan, 53, has been arrested several times previously and sentenced twice to a total of 15 years for upholding his faith in Falun Gong.

Mr. Zhang was first sentenced to eight years in Weinan Prison in 2004 for talking to people about Falun Gong. He was arrested again on October 18, 2012, and sentenced to seven years and eight months in 2013 to the same Weinan Prison.

Torture Methods Used by Weinan Prison

The Weinan Prison, with 16 wards, was designated to house death-row prisoners and those with life sentences. Since November 2005, it has been the sole prison in the province to hold male Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their faith.

For practitioners who refuse to renounce their faith, the prison guards first force them to stand for long hours, sometimes for a day. One practitioner once stood for 14 hours. When he asked to take a break, the guards beat him before allowing him to sit down.

Restricted restroom use is another commonly used torture method in Weinan Prison. To avoid using the restroom, many practitioners drank very little or no water.

The guards and inmates beat and verbally abused the practitioners at will. One practitioner was slapped in the face and hit in his stomach every day after he was taken to the prison.

If the above methods couldn’t force the practitioners to give in, the guards would tie them up in a metal chair, with their wrists and ankles chained to it. At the same time, the inmates would beat the practitioners and deny them restroom use. Some practitioners were forced to relieve themselves in their pants. Some had bruises on their wrists and ankles when the chain cut deep into their flesh.

Other methods used to torture the practitioners include hanging them from the back for hours or a day, keeping them in solitary confinement, subjecting them to extreme heat or cold, forcing them to sit or do intensive unpaid labor for long hours, as well as restricting them from buying daily necessities.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Du Yinhu (杜银虎), secretary of Fuping County Political and Legal Affairs Committee: [phone]He Zhiyi (何志义), head of Fuping County Police Department: [phone]Su Xinyu (苏新宇), president of Fuping County Procuratorate: [phone], [phone]Wang Junfeng (王俊峰), president of Fuping County Court: [phone]