(Minghui.org) A Dezhou City, Shandong Province resident was forced to take unknown drugs while detained for practicing Falun Gong. Her legs festered after she was released and it took months for her to recover.
Ms. Zhang Xiuqin, a 70-year-old retired stainless steel factory worker, was arrested outside of her home when she returned from grocery shopping on November 7, 2021. While being held at the Dezhou City Detention Center, she was forced to take unknown drugs that the guards claimed were to lower her blood pressure. It’s not clear whether she was suffering from high blood pressure. When she refused to comply, they handcuffed and shackled her.
Shortly after Ms. Zhang was released on bail on December 14, her legs began to fester. It wasn’t until recently that the wound started to recover.
Past Persecution
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline centered on the principles Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. It was introduced to the public in May 1992, and soon spread across China.
When the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, it was estimated that over 100 million Chinese were practicing it, more than the number of registered Communist Party members.
While some practitioners stopped practicing due to fear of the persecution, Ms. Zhang took up Falun Gong because of the persecution.
Having witnessed the positive changes in her neighbor after learning Falun Gong, Ms. Zhang didn’t believe the demonizing propaganda played on TV. When she met her neighbor on July 25, 1999, five days after the persecution began, her neighbor gave her a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong, and said she could take a look herself to see what Falun Gong is all about.
Ms. Zhang took the book home and quickly finished reading it. She was impressed with the principles discussed in the book, and she only wished she had read the book earlier. She has since begun practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhang was arrested for talking to people about Falun Gong on October 29, 2010. Liu Dawei of the Domestic Security Office slammed her arm against a door. She then couldn’t move her arm and the pain was excruciating. The police asked for her name and address, but she refused to answer. The police later found her profile in their database and took her to the Dezhou City Detention Center in the afternoon. They also ransacked her home and took 2,100 yuan in cash.
The police interrogated Ms. Zhang another time at the detention center and threatened to sentence her if she didn’t provide the information they wanted. After a month of detention, Ms. Zhang’s son-in-law paid the police 10,000 yuan in exchange for her release.
Ms. Zhang went to visit another practitioner, Ms. Chen Yulan, on April 22, 2016. She was surrounded by ambushing police as soon as she left at around 5 p.m. After a day of interrogation at the Decheng District Police Department, she was taken to the Dezhou Detention Center, where officer Liu Dawei and Liu Ning continued to interrogate her.
After a month of detention, she was transferred to the local brainwashing center, and held there until June 24. Her denture was broken during this time.
Ms. Zhang was summoned by the police on October 13, 2016, and asked about the whereabouts of practitioner Ms. Liu Yueping. The police threatened to take her to a brainwashing center if she didn’t answer their questions.
Ms. Zhang found herself being followed and having her photos taken in October 2017, when the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was taking place in Beijing.
She was followed again around May 13, 2018, the anniversary of Falun Gong’s public introduction.
Several officers knocked on her door and harassed her on June 14, 2018.
The police came again when she was playing Falun Gong-related radio programs at home on July 8, 2018. She refused to open the door for them and said she had the right to play anything she liked at home. The police then left. It’s not clear how they found out she was playing the radio programs.
The latest harassment of Ms. Zhang was on March 24, 2021. She didn’t open the door for the officers.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Zhang Xikun (张希坤), head of Decheng District Domestic Security Office: +86-13853498626Liu Dawei (刘大伟), police officer: +86-13853495328Liu Ning (刘宁), police officer: +86-13884686082
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