(Minghui.org)

Name: Zhang RongjieChinese Name: 张荣杰Gender: FemaleAge: 66City: XingtangProvince: HebeiOccupation: Department of Motor Vehicles employeeDate of Death: October 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 2004Most Recent Place of Detention: Hebei Province Women’s Prison

Name: Qie XiaosheChinese Name: 郄小社Gender: MaleAge: 69City: XingtangProvince: HebeiOccupation: tax officialDate of Death: August 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 2004Most Recent Place of Detention: Jidong Prison

Name: Qian YuzhongChinese Name: 钱玉中Gender: MaleAge: 73City: XingtangProvince: HebeiOccupation: Government officialDate of Death: November 3, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 10, 2020Most Recent Place of Detention: Local detention center

Minghui.org recently confirmed the deaths of three Falun Gong practitioners in Xingtang County, Hebei Province. All three of them were repeatedly targeted for their faith, including being arrested on November 12, 2004, and they were given heavy prison sentences. They faced constant persecution after their release, and one of them was later given a second prison sentence.

Ms. Zhang Rongjie passed away in October 2022 at the age of 66. Her husband Mr. Qie Xiaoshe died in August 2024. He was 69. Mr. Qian Yuzhong, 73, died on November 3, 2024.

Husband and Wife Jailed for 9 Years

Ms. Zhang worked at the Xingtang County Department of Motor Vehicles. Mr. Qie was an official at the Xingtang County Tax Bureau. They credited Falun Gong for improving their minds and bodies. After the persecution began in July 1999, they decided to go to Beijing to appeal for their right to freedom of belief, but they were intercepted en-route. After they were taken back to Xingtang, Mr. Qie was held at his workplace for three days. He was later arrested by Xingtang County Police Department officers and detained for an unknown amount of time.

Both Mr. Qie and Ms. Zhang were arrested in the summer of 2000, by officers Lyu Guofa, Liu Chaoqin, and Han Guoliang from the Xingtang County Police Department. The couple was taken to the Xingtang County Detention Center, where officers Liu and Han beat them and fined them 3,000 yuan each without issuing receipts. They were detained for more than 50 days.

Ms. Zhang was arrested again in March 2001 and held in custody until the end of April that year. Her husband was arrested at work on December 27, 2001 and held at the Shijiazhuang Labor Camp for 18 days. He was also fined 3,000 yuan. He was taken to the same labor camp again on April 4, 2002 and held there for another 42 days. In May that year, Ms. Zhang traveled to Hubei Province to visit relatives and she was taken into custody by officers Lyu, Yang Huimin and her coworker Tian Jianjun and brought back to Hebei. She was held at a local school for one month. In late 2002, she was arrested again and held at a local detention center for one month and fined 5,000 yuan.

On November 12, 2004, the couple was arrested by ten officers, including Yan Jianwei and Lyu. After being held for one year in the local detention center, they were each sentenced to nine years.

Ms. Zhang was admitted to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison. She was abused to the point of going blind in her left eye and suffering severe vision loss in her right eye. From 2007 to 2009, she made numerous requests for medical parole, but was repeatedly rejected by chief Li Conggang and deputy chief Wang Guojun of the Xingtang County Police Department, as well as the Longzhou Police Branch Director Mi Ligang. The prison actually approved her requests but the police refused to sign the paperwork.

Mr. Qie was fired from his job after the prison sentence. While serving time in Jidong Prison, he developed a slipped disk and diabetes as a result of the abuse.

The couple had no source of income after they were released in November 2013. They did odd jobs to make a living and the police still harassed them from time to time. Ms. Zhang died in October 2022. Her husband passed away in August 2024.

Former Government Official Twice Sentenced to Prison

Mr. Qian Yuzhong was also arrested on November 12, 2004 and later sentenced to seven years. His employer, the Xingtang County Materials Bureau, removed him from his deputy director position and fired him. He was later arrested again on July 10, 2020, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in an apartment complex by property management office worker Li Suxia. He developed stroke symptoms but was still sentenced to three years and seven months and fined 10,000-yuan at an unknown time. He was allowed to serve time at home. Mr. Qian died on November 3, 2024 at the age of 73.