(Minghui.org) The deaths of 24 Falun Gong practitioners were confirmed in July and August 2021, bringing the year-to-date total confirmed deaths in 2021 to 91.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Since its introduction to the public in 1992, countless people have been drawn to its profound principles and health benefits. Fearing its ever-growing popularity, the Chinese communist regime launched a nationwide campaign in July 1999, attempting to stamp out the practice.
One of the newly reported 24 death cases took place in 2018. Three occurred in 2020, eleven in the first half of 2021, six in July 2021 and three in August 2021. The delay in the reporting of the cases was caused primarily by the strict censorship in China, which makes it difficult for Minghui correspondents to collect and send out information.
The 24 practitioners, including 17 female, came from 12 provinces and municipalities. The top four provinces with the most newly reported deaths were Liaoning (4), Heilongjiang (4), Jilin (3), and Shandong (3). Gansu and Sichuan each had two cases. Hunan, Henan, Hebei, Xinjiang, Shanghai and Chongqing each had one case.
Several of 24 Falun Gong practitioners reported dead in July and August 2021Upper row (left to right): Zhou Xianwen, Fu Guihua, Sun XiujunLower row (left to right): Chu Liwen, Ma Ying, Guo Qi
Among the five practitioners who died in custody, two of them, including a woman in her 70s, died two weeks into their detention, and a third practitioner died two months into her detention.
Most other practitioners passed away after suffering decades of displacement, harassment, incarceration and torture.
The 24 practitioners came from all walks of life, including a county-level government official, a pharmacist, an engineer, an assistant bank director and a teacher. Except for three practitioners whose ages were unknown, the other 21 practitioners were between 50 and 85 years old, with an average age of 65.
Click here for a full list of the deceased practitioners.
Five Died in Custody
Jilin Man Denied Medical Parole, Dies in Prison
Mr. Zhang Ziyou, a Changchun City, Jilin Province resident serving a six-year term for practicing Falun Gong, died on December 13, 2020, after the authorities kept denying his medical parole request because he refused to give up his faith.
The police came to Mr. Zhang’s home on April 13, 2017 and ransacked it. They confiscated many Falun Gong related materials and forcibly took Mr. Zhang to the hospital for a physical examination. Although he was found to have high blood pressure, the police still took him to Shuangyang No. 3 Detention Center, where he was forced to go through another round of physical examination. Confirming his high blood pressure, the detention center refused to accept him.
Mr. Zhang was taken back to Fuzhidalu Police Station and held there overnight. The next day, his son was summoned to the police station. Being threatened and eager to get Mr. Zhang safely home, his son signed the bail document.
After the High-tech Industrial Development Zone Court sentenced Mr. Zhang to six years on November 1, 2017, the police attempted to lock him up at Shuangyang City Detention Center. But the detention center refused to admit him again due to his health condition. Mr. Zhang held a hunger strike at the police station for two days and was then released.
On November 22, 2017, the police directly took Mr. Zhang to Gongzhuling Prison. There, he suffered a stroke and was found to have diabetes. He couldn’t take care of himself or even walk on his own. His family applied for medical parole for him, but the prison repeatedly rejected their applications, openly admitting that it was simply because Mr. Zhang didn’t give up practicing Falun Gong.
After being imprisoned for three years and ten days, Mr. Zhang passed away in the prison on December 13, 2020. He was 68.
Prior to his latest sentencing, Mr. Zhang was given two years at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in 2000, shortly he was arrested for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong.
Elderly Chongqing Woman Dies While Serving Time for Her Faith
Ms. Jiang Yourong, a Chongqing resident, died in prison while serving time for her faith in Falun Gong. She was 73.
Ms. Jiang’s family received a call from Chongqing Women’s Prison in December 2020 and was told that she had respiratory failure and was being resuscitated. Her husband rushed to the prison but wasn’t allowed to see her. Not long after, he was informed that she had died. The prison only allowed him to see her body covered with a big cloth and he couldn’t tell whether there were any injuries on her body.
Ms. Jiang was arrested on August 14, 2018, and sentenced to prison by Jiulongpo District Court (term unknown). She was taken to Chongqing Women’s Prison in June 2019. During the one and half years Ms. Jiang was held there, her family was never allowed to visit her, with the excuse that she didn’t give up practicing Falun Gong.
Prior to this imprisonment, she was arrested twice, in 2009 and 2015, respectively.
Henan Resident Dies After Two Weeks in Custody
On June 26, 2021, Mr. Li Jianshe, a Zhumadian City, Henan Province resident, was arrested by officers from Yicheng Police Department and taken to the city detention center.
Mr. Li’s family was informed on July 2 that he had been taken to the intensive care unit of a hospital. They saw that Mr. Li’s back, arms, and neck were swollen. Mr. Li passed away four days later, on July 7, 2021.
Jilin Woman Suddenly Dies after Two Months in Prison
Ms. Fu Guihua, a Siping City, Jilin Province resident, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for her faith in Falun Gong. She was taken to Jilin Province Women’s Prison on May 27, 2021, and she passed away there on July 25, 2021. Her family and lawyers requested the relevant departments to investigate her death, but the prison officials pressured her family to cremate the body as soon as possible.
Ms. Fu was arrested on August 15, 2019, along with her husband, her older daughter, her two sons-in-law and their respective parents, for their shared faith in Falun Gong. Her younger daughter was spared since she had a three-month-old baby.
Ms. Fu Guihua
Ms. Fu’s husband and her younger daughter’s mother-in-law were released after 15 days of the detention. The rest of them were sentenced to prison in February 2021. Ms. Fu and her younger daughter Ms. Yu Jianping’s husband Mr. Meng Xiangqi, 37, were both given 7.5 years. The other five family members were each given 7 years, including Ms. Fu’s older daughter Ms. Yu Jianli, 30; Ms. Yu Jianli’s husband Mr. Wang Dongji, 40; Mr. Wang’s parents (Mr. Wang Kemin, 69, and Ms. Wang Fengzhi, 69); and Mr. Meng’s father, Mr. Meng Fanjun, 59.
Ms. Fu and her older daughter Ms. Yu Jianli were taken to Jilin Province Women’s Prison on May 27, 2021.
Ms. Fu’s family received a phone call from the prison on the evening of July 25, notifying them that Ms. Fu was in critical condition and under emergency treatment in the hospital. But the prison guards did not allowed her family to see her when they arrived at the hospital, with the pretext that she was being “rescued.”
About an hour later, her family received a phone call from the hospital that Ms. Fu died at 9:48 p.m. However, her family saw the time on the phone showing 9:18 p.m. during their conversation. When they questioned about the time, the caller immediately changed her deceased time to be 8:18 pm. The family was told that she died of cirrhosis of the liver.
Her family requested to see her body right away but was told that they needed to wipe the blood, and do some cleaning up. Her family finally saw her remains several days later after repeated requests but they were not allowed to bring their cell phones or take pictures. She was 55.
Her family and their lawyers are still seeking the true cause of her death.
Liaoning Woman in Her 70s Dies in Custody Two Weeks Following Her Arrest
Ms. Wei Mingxia, a Huludao City, Liaoning Province resident, was arrested on July 19, 2021, while at the home of another practitioner. She was taken to the Huludao City Detention Center and died on August 2.
Her family said she was very healthy and still worked in the fields before being arrested. At the time of writing, her body was being kept at a local funeral home and her family was trying to find out more about her death. The police, however, had threatened, harassed, and intimidated her family.
Ms. Wei is the second Falun Gong practitioner who has died at the Huludao City Detention Center this year. Mr. Cheng Weixing, arrested on May 12, 2020, also died there in the first half of 2021. He was 54. The details of his death remain unclear.
Deaths after Long Term Harassment and Torture
Xinjiang Resident Persecuted to Death Three Years Ago
Ms. Yu Fengling, a resident of Fukang City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was give three forced labor terms for a total of six years.
Ms. Yu was arrested again in February 2017 and detained in the Fukang Detention Center. When she was on the verge of death in April 2018, her family was notified to take her home. She passed away a month later. She was 67.
Ms. Li Xiuhua, an engineer in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was arrested on May 13, 2019, while she was outside hanging up a Falun Gong banner. She was sentenced to one year in prison and tortured while serving time at Tangshan First Detention Center. She was released on May 12, 2020 and passed away seven months later on Christmas Eve. She was 57.
Together, Ms. Li and her husband, Mr. Meng Fanquan, were incarcerated for a total of 15 years, and their home was ransacked five times. Both of them lost their jobs as well.
Ms. Li was given three years in Kaiping Forced Labor Camp, just prior to the New Year in 2001, and Mr. Meng was taken to Hehuakeng Forced Labor Camp for a year around the same time.
She went on a hunger strike in the labor camp to protest the persecution. When she fell into critical condition, the authorities asked her brother-in-law to pick her up from the hospital. After she recovered, fearing the persecution, her brother-in-law cooperated with the labor camp and took her back. Ms. Li was released in the summer of 2003.
Mr. Meng was arrested again on April 17, 2006, and sentenced to a seven-year prison term in October. During the New Year in 2011, a guard burned and disfigured his face with a high-voltage electric baton in prison.
Jilin Woman Passes Away After Years of Persecution
Ms. Yuan Yu’e, a Shulan City, Jilin Province resident, was arrested twice and detained once for her faith in Falun Gong after the persecution began. Her home was ransacked three times. When she was at the local detention center in 2008, her health deteriorated and she had difficulty walking.
The local police and the residential committee staff often harassed her in the past years.
Her son, who lives in Shandong Province, worried about her situation and took her and her husband to live with him.
Her past persecution took a toll on her health. Ms. Yuan passed away on January 23, 2021, in Shandong Province.
Liaoning Man Dies Five Years After Prison Release
Mr. Chen Wenduo and his wife Ms. Liu Dan were middle school teachers in Yingkou City, Liaoning Province. Both of them took up Falun Gong in April 1997. With the onset of the persecution two years later, they were subjected to multiple arrests and detention.
After the couple’s arrest on July 8, 2000, Ms. Chen was given one year of forced labor. Ms. Liu was released after 40 days of detention, after being forced to pay a 10,000-yuan fine.
Mr. Chen was arrested again on April 24, 2002 and detained for one and a half months. After his release, the couple was prohibited from teaching and transferred to other positions.
Mr. Chen’s latest arrest was on November 13, 2013. Despite his extremely high blood pressure, the detention center refused to release him. He was later sentenced to three years in prison and taken to Dalian City Prison in August 2014.
The prison denied Mr. Chen medical parole. The guards instead secretly put drugs into his food and forced him to take it. He began to experience a serious heart condition after that.
Three months before Mr. Chen was released, an inmate gave him a cup of tea. That night, he began to suffer insomnia and cardiac arrest. The symptoms lasted for months and only began to alleviate after he was released. But he still couldn’t fall asleep at night and could only sleep for a very short period of time in the early morning each day.
Mr. Chen began to experience heart failure in November 2020. He had difficulty breathing, had generalized edema and was unable to sleep. After struggling with the conditions for three months, he passed away on January 23, 2021. He was 52.
After Years of Persecution, Liaoning Woman Passes Away
Ms. Guan Fengxia, a Daqing City, Liaoning Province resident, was arrested and held at a brainwashing center from September 1999 to January 2000. She was put under house arrest at her workplace, Daqing Railway Station, for five months. Her husband was also detained for practicing Falun Gong at this time, leaving their 12-year-old child home alone. After she was released, she was demoted from a station conductor to a janitor.
Ms. Guan was arrested when she was on her way to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on June 21, 2000, and detained in Qiqihar Railway Police Department for 45 days.
After her release, she was put under house arrest at her workplace from August to December 2000. Her family was forced to pay 2,000 yuan in exchange for her release.
Ms. Guan tried to go to Beijing again on December 29, 2000, but was intercepted. She was given two years of forced labor in Shuanghe Women’s Forced Labor Camp in Qiqihar, where she suffered brutal torture. She was deprived of sleep, subjected to beatings and humiliations, confined in a small cell, administered unknown drugs against her will, and forced to do heavy labor every day.
When she was released from the labor camp, her husband was not home to greet her because he was serving a seven-year prison term in Daqing prison. She struggled to raise their son by herself.
The years of persecution took a heavy toll on Ms. Guan’s health, which deteriorated in the past two years. She passed away on March 5, 2021. She was 60.
Liaoning Woman Passes Away After Suffering Long-Term Persecution
Ms. Sun Yumei, a Daqing City, Liaoning Province resident, passed away in March 2021 after suffering long-term persecution.
Ms. Sun was first arrested for her faith on January 26, 2013, with her home raided. She was taken to Daqing City Detention Center but not admitted due to her health condition. She was then released on bail.
The Datong District Court tried her on May 31, 2013, and she was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on June 26, 2013. She was taken to Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on August 28, 2013 by court staff members.
Ms. Sun was arrested again May 17, 2017, for filing a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese communist regime, for launching the persecution of Falun Gong. She was released again for health reasons.
The police arrested her on April 1, 2020 during the “zero-out” campaign, a concerted effort targeting every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s list. She was released on bail at night and had her home ransacked the next day.
After years of persecution, Mr. Sun’s health deteriorated. She passed away in March 2021. She was 71.
Shandong Woman Dies After Suffering Two-decades of Unspeakable Persecution
Ms. Teng Yingfen, a Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province resident, had been arrested six times since the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, and had her home ransacked seven times. She was displaced for seven years. While she lived away from home to avoid illegal arrest, her husband was serving an eight-year term for their shared faith, leaving their teenage daughter living on her own. After her last arrest on August 29, 2010, she was sentenced to four years in prison.
Ms. Teng was taken to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison on April 20, 2011. She endured unimaginable pressure, brainwashing, and physical torture. Having regained health from practicing Falun Gong, she developed high blood pressure, a heart condition, and a neck problem due to the abuse in prison. Under extreme agony, she survived the long prison term.
His daughter had already been admitted to the graduate school of the prestige college she attended. But the 610 Office eventually forced the school to dismiss her.
Ms. Teng and her husband were harassed in 2015 after filing criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the CCP who ordered the persecution.
The local Social Security Bureau suspended Ms. Teng’s pension beginning in 2020, and asked her to pay back the over 90,000 yuan she had received during her four-year prison term. The authorities claimed that Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their faith are not entitled to retirement benefits, despite no such stipulation in the Chinese labor law.
The long-term persecution took a toll on Ms. Teng’s health. She passed away on April 4, 2021, two months before her 60th birthday.
After More Than 17 Years of Torture in prison, Sichuan Woman Passes Away
Ms. Zhong Junfang, a Leshan City, Sichuan Province resident, was arrested on August 8, 2011 and later sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. She was tortured in prison and became emaciated, weighing only 60 some pounds.
However, on the day of her release in February 2020, the local 610 Office officers directly took her from the prison to a long-abandoned nursing home away from the city, where she was placed under house arrest, without notifying her family.
Only after her family repeatedly went to the police station to ask for her whereabouts and requested for her release, did the police tell them the truth and release her.
Ms. Zhong lived with her brother after her release. But the 610 Office threatened her brother. She had no choice but to move out and rent a place. The 610 Office and the police forbade her to leave the local county.
Since her pension was cut to 600 yuan per month from the regular 3,000 yuan, Ms. Zhong went to the relevant departments to demand her full pension. The police intervened several times. They came and handcuffed her for hours, the longest up to 33 hours. They also raided her home repeatedly.
The prison torture and repeated intimidation took a toll on her health. Ms. Zhong passed away on April 13, 2021. She was 68.
Prior to her last imprisonment, Ms. Zhong was given two years of forced labor term in 2000, and sentenced to three and a half years in prison twice, first in 2003, and then in 2006, three months after she finished her first prison term. She had suffered inhumane torture of various kinds during the incarceration, many times losing consciousness.
Mr. Jiang Guobo used to be a member of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee in Weifang City, Shandong Province. At the end of November 2000, He was given three years of forced labor term and detained in the Changle Forced Labor Camp. A guard ordered the labor camp doctor to inject him with a toxic drug on December 17 that year.
After two days of injections, Mr. Jiang’s eyes began to swell. His kidneys hurt and he was confused. He felt extremely sleepy but couldn’t fall asleep.
Although he was released on medical parole, he was taken back to the labor camp in March 2001. He was tortured for another six months until he was near death again. The guards extorted 5,000 yuan from his family before letting them take him home on medical parole. Before he fully recovered, the police broke into his home and attempted to arrest him again. Mr. Jiang escaped, but had to be in displacement for five years in order to avoid further persecution.
Mr. Jiang was arrested again on October 3, 2005 and was taken to a forced labor camp for the second forced labor term of three years on November 2, 2005. In March 2006, Mr. Jiang was released on medical parole. He was fired from his job and had to do odd jobs to make a living.
Only three years later, Mr. Jiang was arrested again on February 27, 2009. At the local detention center, he held a hunger strike and the guards tied him up in a spread-eagle position on a death bed and force-fed him.
The Kuiwen District Court secretly tried him in December 2009 and sentenced him to five years in prison. He was taken to Jinan Prison in Shandong Province around January 15, 2010. He continued his hunger strike and was force-fed every day.
In 2013, he felt extremely unwell for three months. He was weak and nauseous and had blood in his stool for nearly two weeks. He said the symptoms were similar to those he had after being injected with toxic drugs while in the labor camp.
After Mr. Jiang returned home in 2014, he suffered long term complications from the involuntary drug administration in prison. He often felt sick and threw up. His abdomen was bloated. He had blood in his stool. He was very weak and dizzy and sometimes fainted.
The long-term persecution took a toll on his health during the past seven years, and he passed away on April 29, 2021, at the age of 58.
Liaoning Man Dies After He and His Family Suffer Two Decades of Persecution
Mr. Guo Qi’s wife was nine months pregnant when he was arrested in 2001 for practicing Falun Gong. After months of incarceration, the Dalian City, Liaoning Province resident was tortured to the verge of death. Although he was released, the police kept harassing him, forcing him and his wife to live away from home, leaving their newborn daughter with their elderly parents.
Mr. Guo Qi
For the next two decades, Mr. Guo and his wife, Ms. Sun Caiyan, continued to face harassment and arrests. When Ms. Sun was arrested again in 2014 and subsequently sentenced to prison, her father-in-law was dealt a heavy blow and passed away in 2016.
The years of persecution also took a toll on Mr. Guo’s health and he passed away on June 15, 2021, at the age of 51. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter, as well as his elderly mother and mother-in-law.
Heilongjiang Woman Dies after a Year and a Half of House Arrest and Harassment
Ms. Chang Xiuhua’s health deteriorated after she was arrested and then put under house arrest for her faith in Falun Gong. The 53-year-old woman from Huanan County, Heilongjiang Province, passed away on June 16, 2021.
Ms. Chang Xiuhua
Two men approached Ms. Chang from behind and grabbed her arms when she went shopping on February 20, 2020. One of them who identified himself as a police officer began to search her backpack.
They took Ms. Chang to the basement of Huanan County Police Department, where she was forced to sit on a metal chair with her hands cuffed. Several officers took turns interrogating her.
Later, seven police officers escorted her to her home and ransacked the place. Many of her personal items were confiscated.
Ms. Chang was taken to Jiamusi Detention Center the next day, but she was not admitted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The police took her home and put her under six-month house arrest. She wasn’t allowed to leave her neighborhood. They also left a remote-controlled surveillance device at her home.
When the house arrest expired on August 20, 2020, Ms. Chang was put on one-year bail. She was forced to pay a 5,000-yuan bail bond and wasn’t allowed to leave Huanan County.
When the police went to Ms. Chang’s home to harass her on December 7, 2020, she wasn’t home. They returned at 7:00 a.m. the next day and arrested her, with the pretext of her violation of her bail term. Due to her poor health, Jiamusi Detention Center refused to admit her and she was released. But the police put her on another bail on December 10.
The police took Ms. Chang to the procuratorate on January 21, 2021, and the prosecutor in charge of her case had to let her go home because she was too weak.
Later, Ms. Chang’s condition deteriorated and she was hospitalized. After she was discharged, she stayed with her sister, who cared for her. The police often called her mother to ask where she was.
To make her sister’s life easier, Ms. Chang returned home. But the police kept monitoring and often harassed her until she passed away on June 16, 2021.
Former Assistant Bank Director Passes Away During Displacement
Ms. Ding Lihua, a former Assistant Branch Director of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on November 9, 2018, and detained at the Daqing City Detention Center. Although she was later released on bail due to high blood pressure, the police seized her and took her back to the detention center on December 22, 2018. After the detention center refused to admit her, she was released again.
Ms. Ding was tried on August 22, 2019 by Ranghulu District Court and sentenced to three and a half years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan in late September. Her appeal to Daqing City Intermediate Court was rejected in October 2019.
To avoid being taken back into custody, she lived away from home to hide from police. Living in fear and distress, Ms. Ding’s health deteriorated. She had severe stomach pain by May 2021, and couldn’t keep anything down.
Ms. Ding fell into a coma on June 15, 2021 and was taken to the hospital. She was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. She passed away on June 18, 2021. She was 73.
Former Pharmacist Dies After Enduring Two Decades of Arrests, Harassment and Incarceration
For upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a former Chinese medicine pharmacist was repeatedly arrested and harassed. Ms. Xu Xiaoying served one year in a labor camp and two prison terms totaling four years. Her health was irrevocably damaged from the torture in custody. She passed away on June 20, 2021, at the age of 54.
Ms. Xu, a native of Sichuan Province, moved to Baiyin City, Gansu Province after she got married. She was first arrested in August 2000 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was beaten on the head during interrogation and released after 15 days of detention.
While she was taking a shower at home on the evening of February 22, 2002, the police smashed a window of her home and went into the bathroom to arrest her. She quickly put on a jacket and was immediately dragged to the police car.
Her husband was later forced to live away from home when he found out that the police also attempted to arrest him. Their 12-year-old son was devastated when he was left at home by himself.
Ms. Xu was later given one year at Lanzhou City No. 1 Forced Labor Camp where she suffered brutal torture. Once, the guards ordered two inmates to hang her up from the door frame, with her arms pulled up from her back. She was also forced to do intensive, unpaid labor.
The physical abuse induced a stroke. She became numb and had difficulty moving the left side of her body. The guards only allowed her to receive IV drips for three days, before forcing her to work again.
Only one month after she was released, her workplace worked with the police and sent her to the brainwashing center. When she tried to escape from the window on the second floor, she fell and hit her head. Her face was covered with blood. Her eyes were swollen. Her legs were also injured.
Her family took her to the hospital, however, the police soon came and forcibly took her back to the brainwashing center. By then, her face had become so swollen that she couldn’t open her eyes. The brainwashing center director rejected her request for medical treatment, causing her eyesight to be permanently reduced from the injury.
Ms. Xu was held at the brainwashing center for two months.
The police broke into Ms. Xu’s home on April 22, 2008 and arrested her in front of her son, who was about to take the college entrance exam in two months. She was later sentenced to three years in prison and served her prison term in Gansu Province Women’s Prison since June 15, 2009.
Ms. Xu was summoned by the police on October 13, 2015 for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution. The police had planned to detain her, but relented at her husband’s strong protest.
She had to live d away from home from January 2016 to August 2016 to avoid further persecution, and left home again after she was notified for trial on February 27, 2017. The police put her on the wanted list in April 2017.
Ms. Xu was arrested on April 19, 2018, and sentenced to one year in prison.
Her workplace was forced to fire her on July 10, 2019, two month after her release.
The long-term persecution took a toll on Ms. Xu’s health and she passed away on June 20, 2021.
Shandong Man Dies Months After Being Released on Medical Parole, Harassed Before Death
Mr. Chu Liwen, a Weifang City, Shandong Province, resident, passed away on July 1, 2021, less than five months after he was released from prison on medical parole, shortly after he was sentenced to eight years for practicing Falun Gong.
Mr. Chu Liwen
Mr. Chu and his son, Mr. Chu Qinghua, were arrested on September 22, 2019. Although his case had been rejected by the court twice due to insufficient evidence, the police refused to release him and still attempted to pressure the judge into sentencing him.
Mr. Chu was sentenced to eight years in prison on February 9, 2020. He was released less than five months later on medical parole as he was extremely ill.
The police still harassed Mr. Chu and his son in April 2021, forcing them to live away from home.
Mr. Chu passed away on July 1, 2021. He was 65.
Prior to his last sentence, Mr. Chu spent nine years behind bars and was tortured. He served three labor camp terms, including one three-year and two one-year terms (he was released on medical parole after 20 days of incarceration after his first one-year labor camp term), as well as a five-year prison term. His son served two and a half years in a labor camp and three years in prison.
Sichuan Woman Dies After Suffering Long-Term Persecution
Ms. Chen Xianfang, a Ziyang City, Sichuan Province resident, passed away on July 15, 2021, after years of persecution and harassment for practicing Falun Gong.
After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, police constantly monitored and harassed Ms. Chen since she had told people about Falun Gong and the persecution. She moved to another town to hide from the police.
After her landlord reported her to the police one day in 2013, officers came and locked her in from the outside that night. To avoid further persecution, she escaped and lived in displacement.
Ms. Chen moved to live with one of her children in Anyue County, Sichuan Province in 2014. She was arrested there in 2016 and released on bail for one year. She was often harassed after her release. The Anyue County Court sentenced her to three years of probation in 2017, under conditions that she report to Yueyang Township Judicial Office every month and not leave the county. Her ID was specially marked.
She moved back to her own home in 2019. The authorities continued to harass her until she passed away on July 15, 2021. She was 82.
Liaoning Man Passes Away During Persecution
Mr. Sun Xiujun, a resident of Dalian City, Liaoning Province, was arrested on June 2, 2021. His home was ransacked and his computer and printer were confiscated. Since he failed medical examinations several times, the police had to release him three days later, but he was put under surveillance.
Mr. Sun Xiujun
Later, the police ordered him to leave Dalian City, out of their precinct. Mr. Sun’s elder brother came and took him back to his home in Heilongjiang Province. He passed away on July 19, at the age of 50.
Mr. Sun suffered brutal torture during the past arrests and detentions (including two years in a labor camp), including several beating, exposing to extreme coldness, and electric shock.
Retired Teacher Passes Away Months After Aide’s Arrest
Ms. Ren Canru, a retired elementary school teacher from Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, passed away on August 3, 2021, at the age of 85, after suffering long-term physical and psychological pain from the persecution of Falun Gong.
Ms. Ren’s son, Mr. Yuan Jiang, a graduate of Tsinghua University, was a manager of the Lanzhou Telecom Bureau. Since he was a volunteer assistant for practitioners in Gansu Province, he was targeted since the beginning of the persecution. He died on November 9, 2001, 15 days after escaping from the detention center, with severe injuries.
Ms. Ren’s husband, Mr. Yuan Zhuguo, a professor and former dean of the physics department of Northwest Normal University, underwent ongoing persecution and harassment, in addition to depression from the tragic death of his son. He passed away on January 26, 2011.
Ms. Ren suddenly developed hemiplegia in June 2019 after suffering long-term harassment, intimidation, depression and loneliness. She had difficulty taking care of herself and has had an aide to care for her since then.
On December 22, 2020, dozens of police officers from Lanzhou City and Huining County used a chainsaw to break open the security door of her home and arrested her aide. They confiscated a computer, a printer, and other personal belongings. Ms. Ren, bedridden at the time, was terrified.
Her health deteriorated drastically after that, and she was completely unable to care for herself. She passed out on July 27, 2021, and was taken to the intensive care unit. She passed away a week later.
Elderly Woman Dies of Heart Attack After Grandson’s College Admission Rescinded and Home Ransacked
Ms. Li Junzhi was a resident of Yueyang City, Hunan Province. Her grandson was admitted to a military college in July 2021. Her son’s whole family was full of hope and joy.
However, her grandson was later notified that he failed the background check because Ms. Li practiced Falun Gong. The police also raided her son’s home and confiscated two Falun Gong books that Ms. Li left behind. Her son’s family was overwhelmed and distraught.
Ms. Li was anxious and depressed about her grandson’s situation, which led to her sudden heart failure. She passed away on July 27, 2021 after being taken to the hospital. She was 70.
Shanghai Woman Given Toxic Drugs Hours Before Release on Bail Dies Two Years Later
Ms. Zhou Xianwen, a Shanghai resident, was arrested on June 24, 2019, after she was reported for using four 5-yuan bills that had information about Falun Gong printed on them to buy food at a supermarket. Due to strict information censorship in China, many Falun Gong practitioners use creative ways to spread information about the persecution, including printing information on banknotes.
Ms. Zhou Xianwen
The police held her in the Zhangjiang Detention Center and interrogated her six times. After two months of detention, Ms. Zhou developed a heart condition and was easily out of breath. She couldn’t lie flat at night and was unable to fall asleep. The guards refused to provide any treatment to her. Not until Ms. Zhou passed out three weeks later did the police agree to release her on bail.
Ms. Zhou was given unknown drugs via IV drips hours before she was released on bail on September 23, 2019. Not long after she returned home, she began to have difficulty breathing, developed generalized edema, and had blisters on her feet and calves.
After struggling with extreme pain for nearly two years, Ms. Zhou passed away on August 8, 2021, at the age of 73.
Related report:
Deaths of 67 Falun Gong Practitioners Reported in First Half of 2021
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