(Minghui.org) A Dalian City, Liaoning Province resident was recently imprisoned for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhang Cui’s arrest and sentence dealt her husband and mother-in-law a heavy blow. Her husband became paraplegic following a work-related accident in 2013. He has since relied on his wife to care for him and his daily activities, including eating, bathing, turning him in bed, and manually removing his fecal impaction. He is suffering from declining health after he was taken to a nursing home following Ms. Zhang’s latest arrest. His mother, in her 80s, also struggles to care for herself due to worsening rheumatism.
Ms. Zhang, in her 50s, was arrested on March 26, 2020 and released the same day after being put under house arrest. She was arrested again and indicted soon after, and taken into custody on September 16, 2020.
Ms. Zhang appeared in court a year later on September 16, 2021 and was sentenced to a 2.5-year prison term and fined 20,000 yuan in early November 2021. Her pension has also been suspended since June 2021. She appealed with the Dalian City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original verdict.
When Ms. Zhang’s family went to the local detention center to make deposits for her to buy daily necessities in early August 2022, they were surprised to learn that her account had been closed.
Days later, the concerned family received a call from a guard at the 12th Ward of Liaoning Province Women’s Prison, who told them that Ms. Zhang had been taken there to serve time.
The guard claimed that she had forced Ms. Zhang to renounce her faith and she ordered the family not to mention Falun Gong to her anymore. She also said that since Ms. Zhang had just been taken to the prison, the authorities wouldn’t immediately allow her family to visit her, but would wait to “see how she behaved” there.
Ms. Zhang’s family later learned that the 12th Ward is also called the “Correction Ward” and that it’s specifically used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
Caregiver Convicted for Her Faith, Paraplegic Husband Suffers Declining Health in Nursing Home