Ms. Xia's family was not allowed to visit her from the time she was arrested on February 21, 2007, until she died in March 2008.
In 2007, Zhang Yuxia's husband Guo Shenghuan, formerly a lecturer in the Mathematical Information Department at Shanghai Normal University, was sentenced to four years in prison.
Ms. Xia Yuanlan Dies after Being Tortured in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
Ms. Xia Yuanlan, 68, lived in Urumqi City, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Her husband was an employee of Nonferrous Metallurgical Industry Research Institute. She lived with her three daughters after her husband passed away. She was constantly ill with a variety of ailments, but after she started practicing Falun Gong, they disappeared. She stopped practicing for a time because of the pressure of the persecution, but had returned to cultivation in recent years.
On February 21, 2007, Ms. Xia was arrested with three other fellow practitioners when distributing copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in Shuimogou District. The practitioners were detained by the police in Shuimogou District Detention Center. The Urumqi City Middle Court held a trial on December 7, 2007. Their case was submitted to the City Higher Court, but they never received a sentence.
At 8:30 p.m. on March 25, 2008, Shuimogou District Detention Center
personnels notified Ms. Xia's family to pick her up. They claimed
her heart disease had recurred. Her family took her to the Construction Corps Hospital,
but her health did not improve, and she passed away. Her family was not allowed
to visit her from the time she was arrested on February 21, 2007, until the day
she died.
On February 18, 2008, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Yuxia was illegally arrested while clarifying the truth. The current situation of her two sons, 5 and 3 years old, remains unknown. In 2007, Zhang Yuxia's husband Guo Shenghuan was sentenced to four years in prison for not giving up the practice of Falun Gong.
Guo Shenghuan was a well-respected lecturer in the Mathematical Information Department at Shanghai Normal University. After the persecution started, because he practiced Falun Gong, the authorities at Shanghai Normal University stopped him from teaching and made arrangements for him to work in the library. They also failed him on his annual performance assessments and used that as an excuse to withhold his bonuses and salary. At around 8:00 a.m. on January 25, 2007, during work hours, Mr. Guo was led to Information Institute Vice President Gu Guoxiang's office, where he was arrested by police who were waiting for him. Witnesses said they used a bag to cover Mr. Guo's head and took him away. Soon he was sentenced to four years in prison. Mr. Guo is currently being detained in Tilanqiao Prison.
Zhang Yuxia used to teach at Shanghai Gubei High School. Because she did not give up her faith in Falun Gong, she was detained at the Qingpu Brainwashing Center. At the time, she was still nursing her baby. Later on in her hometown of Nantong City, she was put in illegal detention by the Jiangsu police. Not long afterwards, she was fired from her job. At that time, her older son Guo Jingxian was just over one year old, and because she was pregnant with her second child, she was released. After returning home, Zhang Yuxia was often harassed and monitored by Shanghai Xuhui District Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents. While her husband was illegally detained in prison, Zhang Yuxia tutored in order to provide for her family.
After September 29, 2007, CCP authorities had Zhang Yuxia monitored 24 hours a day. Three policemen and seven security team staffs monitored Ms. Zhang on a rotating basis every day. A car was constantly parked outside her residence. Once on a public holiday, Zhang Yuxia brought her two sons to visit her mother-in-law, who lives in Xibing County. Someone called her at midnight to check if she had returned home, and the police went to harass her mother's home in the middle of the night.