78-year-old Woman Released from Prison in Critical Condition, Dies Three Months Later

(Minghui.org)

Name: Fu FazhiChinese Name: 付发芝Gender: FemaleAge: 78City: ChengduProvince: SichuanOccupation: N/ADate of Death: January 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: Most Recent Place of Detention: 

Ms. Fu Fazhi was released on the verge of death in October 2022, one month before her four-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong was about to expire. She passed away three months later in January 2023. She was 78.

Ms. Fu, of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was arrested on November 22, 2018 and was later sentenced to four years by the Xindu District Court. She was still very healthy and full of energy when she was taken to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison. It’s not clear what torture she suffered, which eventually claimed her life.

Since the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, the authorities at Sichuan Province Women’s Prison have closely followed the eradication policy against Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned there. Those who refused to renounce their faith were subjected to strict management, brutal torture and intensive forced labor.

Two months after Ms. Fu’s passing, another practitioner, Ms. Liao Guanghui, also died, eight months after she was released from the same prison in a vegetative state.

Ms. Fu’s Past Persecution

Ms. Fu was introduced to Falun Gong by a neighbor in October 1998. At the time, she was plagued by various ailments, including a severe heart condition, tracheitis and generalized fatigue. She credited Falun Gong for improving her health in just six months and changing her into a peaceful and broad-minded person.

Because of her firm faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Fu was arrested on the evening of March 10, 2009. Everything related to Falun Gong at her home was confiscated. At the police station, she was restrained in a metal chair for a day.

Torture reenactment: restrained in a metal chair

Ms. Fu was transferred to the Xindu District Detention Center the next evening. The guards took her blood sample without her consent and forced her to wear the prison uniform. As she refused to renounce Falun Gong, officials from the 610 Office and Political and Legal Affairs Committee, two agencies tasked with overseeing the persecution, brought her three sons to the detention center and forced them to kneel in front of her, crying and begging her to write the statement renouncing Falun Gong. She refused to give in despite the pressure.

Four months later, the local court sentenced Ms. Fu to three years. She appealed at the Chengdu City Intermediate Court. The judge in charge of her appeal case barred her from hiring her own lawyer, but appointed a lawyer to represent her. In a small room, they held a secret hearing, without informing her family, and announced that they upheld her original verdict. Ms. Fu was taken to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison two days later.

Related reports:

Exposing the Torture of Falun Gong Practitioners in Sichuan Province Women’s Prison

Crimes Committed by Wardens of Chengdu Women’s Prison and Head of the 610 Office in Persecuting Falun Gong Practitioners