(Minghui.org) A 58-year-old woman was abused during her four years of imprisonment for passing out calendars with information about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhao Junfang, an Anshan City, Liaoning Province resident, was arrested on November 17, 2015 and sentenced to prison by Haicheng City Court. She was sent to Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on August 1, 2016 and released on November 16, 2019.

Because of holding firm to her faith, Ms. Zhao was often beaten and verbally abused in prison. Below is her own account.

“Only two days after I was imprisoned, they began their attempts to force me to renounce Falun Gong. I was held in a solitary confinement room without surveillance cameras. The inmates often verbally abused me and slandered Falun Gong.

“Once, they pushed me to the ground and sat on me. My body began to shake. Then they left without saying a word.

“The abuse caused my blood pressure to increase dramatically. Yet they still forced me to study the propaganda materials slandering Falun Gong. One guard said they wouldn’t be held responsible if I died.

“Inmate Zhang Yuebo beat me in front of many others on January 23, 2017. The guards found a witness, who provided a false account that Zhang didn’t beat me. It felt to me that the guards were encouraging Zhang to continue beating me.

“Because I stopped the inmates from persecuting another practitioner, Ms. Liu Yanping, on April 16, 2017, they beat me the next day and threw my bedding on the ground.

“I tried to report this to the prison’s director but was stopped by the guards. Instead, they beat me, forced me to study brainwashing materials and didn’t let me take a shower for five days. My blood pressure became dangerously high as a result.

“I told my family about the abuse when they came to visit me on May 23, 2017. The inmates beat me again in the afternoon.

“My family later found a prison guard and reasoned with her. After that, the guard ordered the inmates to apologize to me. But they never really stopped the abuse.

“Shortly after that, they forced me to study propaganda materials again and didn’t allow me to use the restroom.

“Another inmate beat me on July 29, 2017. She put me in a chokehold, hit my head against the bed frame and slapped me in the face. My face had bruises and became swollen. My right ear also bled.

“To cover up the persecution, they transferred me from the first ward to the third ward. The inmates there also beat me. I was not allowed to take showers for one month and not allowed to buy daily necessities for four months.”

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