79-year-old Woman Suffers Persistent High Blood Pressure While Serving Time for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A 79-year-old woman has been suffering from dangerously high blood pressure shortly after she was admitted to prison in December 2021 to serve a three-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. She is now emaciated and has been hospitalized.

Ms. Zhang Yun, of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, was arrested a total of four times between December 2019 and December 2020, before being sentenced to three years by the Hongqu Court on December 24, 2020.

As Ms. Zhang was blind in her right eye and had very poor vision in her left eye, the Shenyang City First Detention Center arranged two eye surgeries in November 2021, in order to transfer her to the Liaoning Province No. 2 Women’s Prison before the end of 2021. But according to insiders, the two surgeries failed to improve her vision. She was isolated in the detention center after the surgeries.

The detention center managed to take Ms. Zhang to Liaoning Province No. 2 Women’s Prison on December 21, 2021. Starting in February 2022, the prison authorities denied her family visitation, citing the pandemic as an excuse. While most inmates can make two calls to their families each month, Ms. Zhang has never been allowed to call her family. Her family has repeatedly contacted the prison but to no avail.

Ms. Zhang’s family also learned that she had difficulty eating due to issues with her teeth. She had a stomach ache after eating rice and vomited many times. The guards assigned two inmates to monitor her, and they were ordered to follow her when she used the restroom. Not wanting to disturb their sleep at night, Ms. Zhang avoided drinking water during the day, so she wouldn’t have to use the restroom at night.

In April 2022, Ms. Zhang was hospitalized due to extremely high blood pressure. Her blood pressure remained dangerously high after she was transferred to the 8th ward in the prison in September 2022. The guards kept measuring her blood pressure every day. She was taken to the hospital for further observation in early February 2023.

In addition to her high blood pressure, her vision remains poor. Several of her upper teeth have fallen out and her lower denture broke. With severe diarrhea and difficulty eating, she has recently lost even more weight.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Yuan Yinghui (袁英慧), prison guard: [phone], [phone]Wang Huimin (王慧敏), prison guardEighth ward of Liaoning Province No.2 Women’s Prison: [phone], [phone]

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