(Minghui.org) Having grown up witnessing their parents arrested one after another for upholding their shared faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Zhang Xiaorong’s son, in his early 20s, and daughter, in her teens, were dealt another blow when Ms. Zhang was arrested in 2019 while their father is still serving a four-year term.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhang, of Xingyang City, Henan Province, was arrested on May 13, 2019. The police claimed that she was recorded by surveillance cameras hanging Falun Gong materials on local residents’ doorknobs. She has been detained at the Zhengzhou City No. 3 Detention Center since.
Ms. Zhang took up Falun Gong in 1997. After the communist regime ordered the persecution, both she and her husband, Mr. Li Qinjun, were repeatedly arrested and detained. Their family-run bookstore was forced to shut down, and their son and daughter grew up in constant fear of losing their parents at any time.
Ms. Zhang was first arrested when she went to Beijing in May 2000 to appeal for Falun Gong. She was detained at Sanlizhuang Detention Center for a month and then a secretive detention room in an office building for eight months.
While she was detained, her husband was arrested on July 5, 2000. He was also held in the same building for eight months. He was beaten by a guard during that time and suffered injuries to his clavicle.
As the couple were both detained, their son, then in kindergarten, had to stay with their relatives.
On February 16, 2001, Ms. Zhang and Mr. Li were transferred to a brainwashing center and held there for another four months, before being released on June 15, 2001.
Ms. Zhang, who gave birth to a baby girl in 2002, was arrested again in 2003 and given an unknown term at Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp. She was subjected to constant torture, including electric shocks, being tied up in excruciating positions and beatings. She was in a delirious state when she was released. She often left home and wandered on the street.
When her husband was arrested on June 11, 2007, her 11-year-old son, Li Longkun, had to take care of his 5-year-old sister, Li Jingyu, as their mother was too mentally unstable to take care of them.
Mr. Li was later sentenced to 3.5 years and released on December 10, 2010.
As Ms. Zhang gradually recovered, she was dealt a heavy blow when Mr. Li was arrested again on May 12, 2017 and later sentenced to four years in Xinmi Prison.
Ms. Zhang was arrested herself two years later and has been detained for 1.5 years at the time of writing.
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