(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Chen Yao, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, was released from the Zhejiang Province Women's Prison in May 2009, after she had protested the persecution through a hunger strike that lasted 488 days. Her mother Tang Baozhi, who had been arrested and sentenced together with her, is currently still in prison and has been likewise resisting the persecution through a hunger strike.
Ms. Chen Yao, about 30 years old, and her mother Ms. Tang Baozhi were taken into custody in October 2006. Ms. Chen was sentenced to three and a half years, and Ms. Tang to five years. Both were locked up in the Zhejiang Province Women's Prison.
Ms. Chen started to resist the persecution by going on a hunger strike on January 7, 2008. On May 10, 2009, her prison term expired and she returned home. She did not stop her hunger strike until her release. During that period, Ms. Chen was tortured many times and was on the brink of death. She was not able to swallow food and could not stand up. She was extremely weak and emaciated and was not her former self. She said that the reason behind her hunger strike was to resist the inhuman persecution and maltreatment Falun Dafa practitioners suffered at the hands of the wicked Chinese Communist Party in this prison.
Ms. Tang Baozhi is about 60 years old. She began a hunger strike on April 8, 2008. It has now been more than 400 days. Ms. Tang's term of imprisonment is supposed to end on November 10, 2010. Her family has not been allowed to visit her. They know nothing about Ms. Tang's situation and have been especially anxious about her being continuously closed up in prison. They hope that she will be released soon.
