(Clearwisdom.net)

Mr. Zhang Siyou and Ms. Zhang Meishan, both from Shouguang City, Shandong Province, suffered constant persecution ever since the Communist Party started its campaign against Falun Gong. Mr. Zhang died on August 9, 2001, and Ms. Zhange died on January 8, 2005.

1. Mr. Zhang Siyou passed away due to repeated persecution

Mr. Zhang Siyou, 51, lived in Beiguan Village of the Shengcheng Sub-district in Shouguang City. Mr. Zhang's whole family started practicing Falun Gong in 1996. They tried to be good people, following Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance). The whole family benefited physically and mentally and enjoyed a harmonious life. They also used their home as a local practice site. On the evening of July 20, 1999, five or six people from the town and village government suddenly came to Mr. Zhang's home and told them they were no longer allowed to practice Falun Gong. Afterward, Mr. Zhang's family was watched day and night. Police cars parked outside their door and the whole family lost their personal freedom. Two days later, Mr. Zhang Siyou and his second daughter were arrested and forced to attend an "education class" for brainwashing. One hundred yuan for living expenses per day was deducted from their wages. After a few days, they were told to pay 12,000 yuan or they would not be released. By this time, they had been illegally fined a total of 18,000 yuan.

After this experience, Mr. Zhang's family was often harassed, and Mr. Zhang's body and mind were greatly harmed. In 2000, Mr. Zhang's second daughter was arrested and not released until January 19, 2001. For six months, the town government illegally detained him. One day she was detained in a dark room, where five or six people gave her a severe beating after covering her head with a winter coat. She almost lost consciousness from the beating and her body was covered with bruises. Mr. Zhang witnessed his daughter's arrest and saw how she was beaten. This depressed him even more than when he was arrested and beaten himself. It is hard to count how many times Mr. Zhang's daughter was arrested and beaten like that.

Mr. Zhang's wife had cerebral thrombus and could not take care of herself. They also have a child who was still middle-school age. Their daughter was arrested many times and their family was often harassed, especially around politically sensitive dates. Due to these physical and mental attacks, Mr. Zhang Siyou developed liver cancer and died on August 9, 2001.

2. Ms. Zhang Meishan died from harassment

Ms. Zhang Meishan, 76, lived in Beiguan Village of Shengcheng Sub-district in Shouguang City. She used to have all kinds of diseases before she practiced Falun Dafa, including tracheitis and heart disease from lung disorders, and she was so tortured by these diseases that she had become emaciated. She could not even take care of herself. In the spring of 1998, she learned Falun Dafa. A little over a month after she started cultivating, all of her diseases were completely gone and she didn't need to take medicine anymore.

On July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime started to persecute Falun Gong. A year later, Ms. Zhang Meishan and her husband were forced to go to the village office to sign a pledge before every "sensitive date," causing her great mental anguish. The local authorities also often came to her home to harass her and her husband.

After July 20, Ms. Zhang Meishan's two sons and two daughters and other family members (all practitioners) suffered from the persecution to varying degrees. Ms. Zhang's eldest son and daughter-in-law were forced to leave their home on February 3, 2001 and go from place to place, leaving their daughter (Ms. Zhang's granddaughter) at home alone because of frequent harassment. Ms. Zhang Meishan never got a chance to see her eldest son again before she died, and even now her son is still destitute and homeless. Ms. Zhang's second son and daughter-in-law were arrested in early 2001. Ms. Zhang's second son was forced to become homeless and his wife was arrested and persecuted, leaving two children at home with no one to care for them. No one could help with their farm work, either. In all, two of Ms. Zhang's sons were forced to leave home, leaving three children at home without care.

Ms. Zhang's second son was arrested in early 2004 when he was homeless. He was escorted to the brainwashing class of Weifang City to be persecuted. He was later released. In the past few years, Ms. Zhang Meishan has been suffering under these intense mental pressures, and she died suddenly on January 8, 2005.

Since July 20, 1999, Ma Jintao, the former Communist Party Secretary of the town and current Deputy Mayor of Shouguang City; Deputy Secretary Liu Xizhong; and Fu Lingguo, the head of the city building team, schemed to direct thugs to persecute practitioners. They have been illegally arresting and persecuting practitioners on a large-scale for some time. Those responsible for persecuting Mr. Zhang Siyou to death in Shouguang Town did so under Ma and Liu's instructions.