(Minghui.org)

Name: Zhao HuifenChinese Name: 赵惠芬Gender: FemaleAge: 71City: Huaibei Province: AnhuiOccupation: N/ADate of Death: April 21, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: Fall 2020 Most Recent Place of Detention: Suixi County Police Department

While on probation for her faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Zhao Huifen, of Suixi County, Huaibei City, Anhui Province, faced continued harassment and surveillance by the authorities, even after she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She passed away on April 21, 2024. She was 71. 

Ms. Zhao Huifen

Ms. Zhao took up Falun Gong in June 1997. Many of her severe ailments that sometimes left her bedridden, including problems with her stomach, neck and back, disappeared one after another. Her irritable and competitive temper, which resulted from the physical suffering, was also gone, replaced by a kind and considerate demeanor. After witnessing her changes, her husband and daughter also began to practice Falun Gong.

After the persecution started in 1999, the police kept harassing Ms. Zhao and her family for their faith. Both she and her husband were summoned to the local Xincheng Police Station in December 2000 and ordered to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. The police also took their photos and fined each of them 50 yuan. As they didn’t have money with them, the police forced one of them to go home to get the money, while the other stayed in the police station. 

The police arrested Ms. Zhao again around March 2002 and forced her to watch videos smearing Falun Gong. 

Fearing further persecution, Ms. Zhao stopped practicing Falun Gong. Due to health issues, she resumed practicing in 2008. 

One day in the fall of 2020, several plainclothes officers from the Suixi County Police Department broke into Ms. Zhao’s home and claimed that someone reported her printing Falun Gong materials at home. Her computer, printer and Falun Gong books were confiscated. 

The police held a marathon interrogation of Ms. Zhao and threatened to arrest her daughter if she didn’t answer the questions. She fainted several times during the interrogation. 

After Ms. Zhao was secretly sentenced to five years of probation and fined 2,400 yuan a year later, the police and staffers from the justice bureau and procuratorate frequently harassed her at her home. She was also ordered to turn in “thought reports” to the justice bureau every month. Her cellphone was monitored with surveillance software. 

The mental pressure took a toll on Ms. Zhao’s health. She was diagnosed with esophageal cancer at the end of 2022. Staffers from the procuratorate even harassed her at the hospital when she was receiving treatments. The harassment and surveillance continued after she received surgery in early 2023. Her cancer metastasized in March 2024 and she died a month later on April 21, 2024.