NEW YORK (FDI) -- On April 1^st, 2004, Chinese police ransacked the home of Ms. Huang Zhao and her husband, stealing valuables and detaining the couple who both practice Falun Gong.

Two weeks later, Huang was dead.

Witnesses say by the second day of her detention, Huang had been severely beaten and could no longer walk. Because she refused to renounce her beliefs, on April 4^th Huang was transferred to the No.1 Branch of Wuhan City Police (the local "6-10 Office") where she was tortured further.

Huang died at 3 a.m. on April 16^th at the Wuhan City No. 3 Hospital.

Sources familiar with Huang's case say local police are monitoring Huang's family members and the hospital where she died to ensure information about her death is not made public. Everyone walking in and out of Huang's residential building is questioned, they say.

Huang's husband, Liu Ning, was also beaten and tortured after being detained, but he was later released to his family. When Liu visited his mother-in-law to enquire about his wife's whereabouts, he was arrested again.

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NEWS -- May 03, 2004

Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong in China, China's then-Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 958 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER -- Gail Rachlin 917-757-9780, Levi Browde 914-720-0963, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Christina Chai 917-386-5068. Email: contact@faluninfo.net, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/