Two Liaoning Women Sentenced to Prison for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Two Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province residents were sentenced to prison on December 15, 2021 for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhang Xiulan, a 55-year-old former employee of the Nuerhe Sewing Factory, and Ms. Wang Yulan were arrested at local practitioner Ms. Li Xiuyun’s home on July 9, 2021. All three practitioners’ homes were ransacked. While Ms. Li was released after 15 days of detention, both Ms. Zhang and Ms. Wang remain in custody. 

Ms. Zhang’s family later learned that she developed systemic edema at the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center. They applied for her to be released on bail, but their application was refused.

The police submitted Ms. Zhang’s case to the Linghai City Procuratorate in mid-September 2021. Ms. Wang’s arrest has also been approved by the same procuratorate.

Ms. Zhang and Ms. Wang were tried by the Linghai City Court through a video conference on December 1, 2021. Their families weren’t allowed to attend. 

Both women received their verdicts on December 15, with Ms. Zhang sentenced to four years and Ms. Wang to two years. Ms. Wang has appealed the verdict.

Past Persecution of Ms. Zhang

Ms. Zhang Xiulan used to have a hot temper and was very stubborn. Since she took up Falun Gong in October 1996, she became very kind and considerate.

In her parents-in-law’s final years, she took good care of them, both bedridden, while working a full time job. Both of her in-laws passed away in peace. 

Ms. Zhang also became very giving. She bought cleaning supplies for her apartment building and also removed the snow on the sidewalks in the winter.

Prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ms. Zhang was arrested in a police sweep at 6:30 a.m. on February 25, 2008. The police bound her hands behind her back. Two officers wrapped a cotton blanket around her head, without allowing her to put on her shoes. They then carried her downstairs and threw her into a police car.

Eight officers ransacked her house, confiscating 4,800 yuan in cash, a VCD player, an MP3 player, a tape recorder, a mobile phone, her house keys, Falun Gong books and a photo of Falun Gong’s founder.

At the Taihe Police Station, the police tied Ms. Zhang’s hands behind her back to a chair. They also tied her feet with a wire and wrapped a cloth around her head before shocking her with electric batons many times. Her toes were bruised as a result. While torturing her, they verbally abused her. They also pulled her hair and slapped her in the face. The torture lasted 17 hours. She was forced to sign a fabricated interrogation record before being taken to the Jinzhou City No. 1 Detention Center.

Ms. Zhang began to have stomach pain in April 2008. After an examination at the hospital, she was found to have a tumor in her stomach the size of a large grapefruit.

Despite her condition, the Taihe District Court sentenced Ms. Zhang to six years in August 2008.

After she was taken to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison, the doctor found she already had two tumors in her abdomen, with another one growing in her neck. Although the prison refused to admit her, the detention center still held Ms. Zhang until April 2009, when she could no longer walk, had blurred vision and difficulty eating.

While Ms. Zhang survived the torture, another three practitioners, who were arrested and tried with her, including Mr. Huang Cheng, Mr. Qu Chengye and Mr. Zhang Litian, were persecuted to death. 

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Li Wei (李玮), presiding judge of Linghai City Court: [phone]Chen Guang (陈光), prosecutor of Linghai City Procuratorate: [phone]Chen Ruirui (陈睿蕊), head of Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center: [phone], [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related reports:

Having Barely Survived a Previous Prison Term, Liaoning Woman Faces Prosecution Again

Ms. Zhang Xiulan from Jinzhou City in Critical Condition after Electric Shocks

Ms. Zhang Xiulan is in Critical Condition at the Jinzhou Detention Center

Jinzhou City Court Officials Heavily Sentence Five Falun Gong Practitioners

Ms. Zhang Xiulan of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province in Critical Condition