(Minghui.org)
Name: Wang ZhongshiChinese Name: 王忠实Gender: MaleAge: 71City: ZiboProvince: ShandongOccupation: Retired cement factory workerDate of Death: July 22, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 11, 2020Most Recent Place of Detention: Shandong Province Prison
A Zibo City, Shandong Province resident died on July 22, 2024, while serving an eight-year term for his faith in Falun Gong. He was 71.
Mr. Wang Zhongshi’s latest arrest on November 11, 2020 came only a little over a year after he finished serving a ten-year term for practicing Falun Gong. His health was damaged during the first prison term, and he could only pass urine while squatting. Before he could recover, he was arrested again and given another lengthy term to be served at the same Shandong Province Prison. The guards there continued to torture him by forcing him to sit on a small stool all day long without moving, which further aggravated his already-damaged health. He didn’t have proper physical exercise and was constantly deprived of sleep, while still being forced to watch videos smearing Falun Gong every day. He eventually succumbed to the torture and passed away in the police hospital.
Previous Ten-Year Sentence and Pension Suspension
Mr. Wang was previously arrested on May 15, 2009 and admitted to the 11th division at the Shandong Province Prison in January 2010. He survived relentless torture and was released on May 16, 2019.
Upon returning home, he was devastated to learn that his pension account had been closed. He went to his workplace, the Zibo Branch of China Aluminum Corporation Cement Plant, to inquire about it, only to be told that they had marked him as deceased and closed his account. The cement plant didn’t make any contributions to his pension account during his prison term. They claimed that in order to reactivate his account, he had to pay 300,000 yuan himself to make up for the contributions missed all these years. Unable to afford the lump sum payment, Mr. Wang entirely lost his pension benefits.
For distributing Falun Gong materials, Mr. Wang was arrested again on November 11, 2020 and sentenced to eight years with a 40,000-yuan fine around September 2021.
Tortured to Death
As soon as Mr. Wang was admitted to the 11th division at the Shandong Province Prison in November 2021 to serve the second prison term, he was taken to the “high security section” on the sixth floor, where Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to intensive torture aimed at forcing them to renounce their faith.
For the first two weeks, Mr. Wang was made to sleep in the hallway. The guards provided him with a wooden board instead of a bed. It’s not clear whether he was given any bedding. Due to the cold weather, his systolic blood pressure increased to over 200 mmHg, when the normal level is 120 mmHg or lower.
Two weeks later, Mr. Wang was taken to a cell in the high security section. Every cell there, about 100 square feet, is a solitary confinement cell with very small windows. The walls are covered with soft, soundproof materials. Six bright lights are on all the time. The dining area is facing the toilet.
Mr. Wang was forced to watch videos smearing Falun Gong every day and also assigned to be on duty for two hours every evening. All of his activities were closely monitored by the guards.
On January 1, 2022, Liang Jingda, the new director of the 11th division, ordered everyone detained there, including the inmates and Falun Gong practitioners, to raise their fists to the Chinese Communist Party’s red flag and admit their crimes and promise to correct themselves in the prison. The eight Falun Gong practitioners, including Mr. Wang, refused to do so, as they didn’t violate any law in practicing their faith. In retaliation, Liang forced them to sit on a small stool without moving for even longer hours.
While sitting on a small stool doesn’t seem to be harmful at first glance, it’s a torture method widely used in Chinese prisons and now-closed labor camps. Sitting on the small stool for over ten hours without moving and with restricted restroom use would cause high blood pressure and urinary system issues, as well as high risk of sudden cardiac arrest. It was more harmful to Mr. Wang, who could no longer urinate while standing.
On May 8, 2022, Mr. Wang was transferred to a regular cell on the fifth floor, but he was still forced to go to the fourth floor every day to watch videos smearing Falun Gong. Once, he was tied to a stretcher and carried to the hospital to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot. Inmate Wang Zhiyong verbally abused him and the founder of Falun Gong.
Mr. Wang was taken back to the “high security section” on the sixth floor on July 8, 2022. He was still forced to sit on the small stool and watch propaganda videos every day. He suffered persistent high blood pressure as a result of the long term torture.
During the massive COVID-19 outbreak in China in late November 2022, Mr. Wang was transferred to the fifth floor again. He was held in a cell together with seven other people . They weren’t allowed to leave the room. Sometimes the prison was unable to provide food to them due to limited supply.
Mr. Wang was taken back to the “high security section” again in February 2023 after the COVID-19 peak. For the next four months, he was forced to sit on the small stool from early morning to 9:30 p.m., without a break during lunch time. At night, he also had to be on duty for two hours. So each day, he only got a total of six hours of sleep, divided into two segments.
Due to continued torture, he had increased difficulty passing urine, which became more frequent and took longer. The guards moved him around in different cells and he still suffered the same persecution. Later on he didn’t have to be on duty at night and was allowed to have a break after lunch.
Since January 2024, the practitioners were allowed to stand up and move around for a few minutes from time to time during the all-day-long sitting torture.
Mr. Wang’s condition kept deteriorating and he began to have blood in his urine in June 2024. The guards took him to the police hospital on June 13, 2024 and he died there on July 22, 2024.
According to an insider, the police hospital was designated to treat felons. The patients are subjected to harsh persecution there and many people died there every year. It’s not clear what “treatment” Mr. Wang received during his 40-day stay in the hospital before his death.
The guards who were involved in torturing Mr. Wang included division director Liang Jingda, deputy director Chen Shuo, and instructor Zheng Jie. When Liang gave orders to torture the practitioners, he said to the guards and inmates, “Don’t treat them [Falun Gong practitioners] as human beings.”
The inmates who took part in torturing the practitioners included Wang Zhiyong, Yin Jun, Liu Erdong, Wu Jinda, Li Wenda, Sun Youda, Liu Huailiang, Xu Chao, and Wu Kejun.
Related Reports:Having Served Ten Years in Prison, Shandong Man Gets Another Eight Years
Four Shandong Residents Sentenced to Prison for Their Faith
Shandong Province Prison Guard to Inmates: “Don’t Treat Falun Gong Practitioners as Human Beings”
Former Ward Chief Brutally Persecutes Falun Gong Practitioners in Shandong Province Prison
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