Inner Mongolia Man Sentenced for His Faith, Wife Dies in Distress

(Minghui.org) Mr. Zhang Guosheng’s wife was devastated when he was sentenced to 1.5 years for practicing Falun Gong. Her health quickly declined and she passed away on October 30, 2022. She was 65.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Zhang, of Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, was arrested in July 2022, days before his 70th birthday. The local court quickly sentenced him. He appealed the verdict and is still held at the Aohan Banner Detention Center at the time of writing.

Mr. Zhang’s latest sentencing stemmed from his earlier arrest at a farmers’ market on October 18, 2019. The police took his home keys after seizing him and proceeded to raid his home when no one was around. His Falun Gong books and many other personal belongings were confiscated. Due to his high blood pressure, the local detention center refused to admit him and he was therefore released on bail that evening. 

Mr. Zhang was summoned to the procuratorate in 2020. The prosecutor indicated his intention to indict him. To avoid the persecution, Mr. Zhang decided to go into hiding. His pension has been suspended since then.

During the time Mr. Zhang was displaced, the police searched his and his daughter’s homes several times. Upon hearing that his mother in her 80s was hospitalized, the police even went to the hospital to look for him. 

One night, when Mr. Zhang’s wife, Ms. Lu Lianli, was at home by herself, the police brought in a locksmith and broke in to look for Mr. Zhang. Upon finding he wasn’t home, they drove to his hometown overnight and searched his uncles’ homes.

Earlier Persecution

Since the onset of the persecution, Mr. Zhang has been repeatedly targeted for practicing Falun Gong. The police harassed him during the 2002 Chinese New Year and tore off a sticker that said “Falun Dafa is good” on his door.

Mr. Zhang was arrested on October 28, 2002 and held in the local detention center. His wife was also taken to a brainwashing center, where she was forced to stand and squat and was deprived of sleep during her 31 days of detention. The couple’s teenaged daughter was left at home by herself when both of her parents were detained. Whenever the dog next door barked, she would become scared and wonder whether the police had come again.

Mr. Zhang was arrested again on January 20, 2003 and held at the detention center for over eight months. The police later gave him three years of forced labor. After he was denied admission due to his extremely high blood pressure, the police took him to the Chifeng City Brainwashing Center and attempted to force him to renounce Falun Gong through brainwashing.