(Minghui.org) A man in Pucheng County, Fujian Province, was arrested again for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Zhang Zhaoli was studying the Falun Gong teachings with other practitioners in a private home on August 30, 2024, when officers from the Pucheng County Domestic Security Division scaled the fence and broke in. All the officers wore sunglasses and masks to conceal their identities. They seized Mr. Zhang and the other practitioners.
Mr. Zhang was first held at the Pucheng County Detention Center and transferred to the Yanping District Detention Center in Nanping City in November 2024. Nanping oversees Pucheng County.
An officer surnamed Xiao claimed that the arrest of Mr. Zhang was triggered by his trip to Dalian City, Liaoning Province, around June 2024. Chinese citizens have rights to visit wherever they want, but the police accused Mr. Zhang of “running around [without permission].” According to an insider, the communist regime issued an order late last year to intensify the persecution of Falun Gong. Every region was also given a quota of arrested practitioners. Mr. Zhang’s arrest was to fulfill that quota.
Mr. Zhang took up Falun Gong in 1996 and soon recovered from his chronic back pain. After the persecution began in July 1999, he was repeatedly arrested and served four forced labor terms totaling 5.5 years prior to this latest persecution episode.
Mr. Zhang was first arrested in September 1999 and held at various detention facilities for more than three months. The police cuffed his hands to a windowsill for several days straight at one point, beating him regularly and not allowing him to sleep.
Mr. Zhang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on February 20, 2000, and was arrested. After he was escorted back to Fujian, he was given one year of forced labor and had to do hard labor without pay every day.
In late 2001, Mr. Zhang was arrested again and given one and a half years of forced labor. While serving time at the Fuzhou City Drug Rehabilitation Center, he was held in solitary confinement for one month. He was later moved to team three. A guard there ordered an inmate to pour boiling water over his head. He went on a hunger strike in protest and the guard instructed the inmates in the entire team to beat him. He sustained severe injuries and was sent to a hospital. After he was discharged, he was transferred to team nine. He was not allowed to eat in the cafeteria and had to wait for food to be delivered to his cell. A few days later, he noticced the rice appeared green and refused to eat it. After going on hunger strike for a few days, he was finally allowed to eat in the cafeteria again.
The police raided Mr. Zhang’s home in the spring of 2005, confiscating his Falun Gong books, music player, and 1,960 yuan in cash. They took him to a place that was usually reserved for interrogating suspected murderers. He was tortured and not given any food or allowed to sleep for an entire week. He was then transferred to a detention center. A month later, he was moved to a lockup. After another month, he was given one and a half years of forced labor. He was again tortured so severely that he was unable to walk for a period of time.
Mr. Zhang later landed a job at a tea factory in the Mount Wuyi area. While working there in May 2008, he was arrested because Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese dictator who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong, was scheduled to visit Mount Wuyi. The police held Mr. Zhang in a brainwashing center until Jiang left.
While visiting a friend in June 2010, Mr. Zhang was arrested again. The police cuffed his hands to the legs of a desk in a way such that he could only squat. While he was squatting there for over nine hours, he was showered with punches and kicks. After the interrogation, he was turned over to the local domestic security division. For seven days straight, they didn’t give him any thing to eat or drink, nor did they let him sleep. They then held him in a detention center for a month before giving him one and a half years of forced labor.
Related Report:
Cases of Dafa Practitioners in Fujian Province Sentenced to Imprisonment or Forced Labor Camps
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