(Minghui.org) Ms. Huang Liqiong returned home on March 27, 2015 after serving nine years in prison for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual practice being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. The 77-year-old retired engineer is as steadfast as ever in her belief in Falun Gong.

Over the past 16 years, Ms. Huang had been illegally arrested and detained multiple times and sent to a forced labor camp for three years and a prison for nine years. After she was released earlier this year, officials at her former workplace still refuse to pay her pension. She is only being given basic living expenses.

Picture of Ms. Huang Liqiong

Nine Years of Abuse in Prison

Ms. Huang was arrested with four other Falun Gong practitioners on March 29, 2006. Police seized everything she had with her at the time. She was taken to Nanchang No. 1 Detention Center and later sentenced in a show trial.

While incarcerated at Jiangxi Women's Prison, Ms. Huang was beaten and verbally abused by other inmates. She was forced to stand facing a wall from six o'clock in the morning until midnight. Sometimes, she was forced to march for a whole day. She was also deprived of the right to call home, purchase necessities from the commissary, or receive family visitation.

She recalled her worst experiences while incarcerated: “For over 20 days in November 2009, I was not allowed to eat, sleep, or use the restroom regularly. Every day I was scolded and tormented non-stop. Another time, I was put into solitary confinement for over three months.”

Prior Persecution

In April 2000, Ms. Huang was arrested for petitioning the government in Beijing for the right to practice Falun Gong. She was taken to Nanchang No. 3 Detention Center and given three years of forced labor after four months of detention.

Ms. Huang went on a hunger strike at the forced labor camp. She was severely tortured and had to be taken to a hospital in December 2002. She was diagnosed with sever heart disease and was in critical condition. To avoid liability, the labor camp released her to her family.

Early in 2000, Ms. Huang was arrested for practicing Falun Gong exercises in public. She was illegally detained for 15 days at Nanchang No. 3 Detention Center. A month later, her home and her daughter's home were illegally searched, and many of her Falun Gong books were confiscated. Ms. Huang was taken to a police station and released that evening.

Before that, Ms. Huang went to Beijing in October 1999 to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested by Beijing police and taken back to Nanchang No. 3 Detention Center for one month.

Targeted by Authorities Before 1999

In August 1998, before the persecution officially began, Ms. Huang went to another practitioner's home to share her experiences in practicing Falun Gong. Police mobilized over ten police vehicles and arrested the group of 13 practitioners. The incident was video-recorded by TV reporters.

Ms. Huang was interrogated and released the next morning. This incident became known as “Nanchang Falun Gong practitioners' illegal gathering.” Ms. Huang also became a target of the authorities ever since.

Ms. Huang Liqiong was a senior engineer at Jiangxi Seismological Bureau. She suffered from heart disease and stomach problems before she started practicing Falun Gong. Three months into the practice, her symptoms disappeared without the use of medication. She also credited Falun Gong for making her a kinder and more tolerant person.