(Minghui.org) An 80-year-old woman in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, was set to appear in court on March 18, 2024, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhang Liwen, who is retired from the Xishan Coalmine Machine Repair Shop, lives in the Wanbailin District of Taiyuan City. She was arrested on April 28, 2023, for talking to people about Falun Gong at a fair in the neighboring Jiancaoping District. The arresting officers from the Yingxin Street Police Station submitted her case to the Jiancaoping District Procuratorate, which then transferred it to the Wanbailin District Procuratorate.
Prosecutor Shi Yuan indicted Ms. Zhang and submitted her case to the Wanbailin District Court. Judge Wu Jiajia scheduled her court date for 9 a.m. on March 18, 2024. It is unclear where Ms. Zhang is being held.
This is not the first time that Ms. Zhang has been targeted for her faith. She was previously given two years of forced labor in 2002 and briefly detained in 2015.
Marriage Saved and Health Restored by Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Zhang came across Falun Gong in May 1998 when a customer at her telephone booth (her job after she retired) gave her a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Gong. At the time, she and her husband had been separated for more than ten years and were about to file for divorce. Falun Gong taught her to live by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and she gradually quit being combative and became more considerate. She no longer fought with her husband and they were able to reunite and live together happily.
Ms. Zhang also recovered from her numerous health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, congenital sacralization of the lumbar spine, stomach issues, tracheitis, bronchitis, neurasthenia, joint hyperplasia, cervical vertebra hyperplasia, and low blood pressure.
Given Two Years of Forced Labor in 2002
On October 7, 2002, Ms. Zhang was baby-sitting her two-year-old grandson at home when someone knocked on the door. She opened it to see officer Wei from the Taiyuan Anti-riot Team, deputy chief Shi Taisheng from the Jiankuan Police Station, and about six other officers including Yang Jie. They did not show their IDs or a search warrant.
They confiscated one Falun Gong book and an exercise music tape and then ordered Ms. Zhang to go with them. She refused because there was no one else to watch her grandson. The police seized her and took her straight to a lockup affiliated with the Wanbailin District Police Station. They searched her and confiscated her key, watch, and several yuan.
The police held Ms. Zhang in a metal cage and interrogated her. When she refused to give her fingerprints for the interrogation record or write statements to renounce Falun Gong, they stabbed her in the head with a pen. She had a relapse of her heart condition that had disappeared after she took up Falun Gong more than two decades before. She went into shock. After she was resuscitated, the police kept her in the lockup.
On October 9, 2002, the police transferred Ms. Zhang to the Taiyuan City Detention Center, which initially declined to admit her after learning about her heart. The police, however, managed to get the detention center to take her.
Ms. Zhang had to share a bed with seven or eight inmates. They had to sleep on their sides and couldn’t move. The inmates had to purchase their own blankets, toilet paper, and paper towels. The food was always undercooked and had sand and dirt in it.
The police interrogated Ms. Zhang once every three to five days. They went into a rage when she refused to renounce Falun Gong. They then forced her to stand for long periods of time.
Ms. Zhang was also made to do hard labor without pay for more than ten hours a day. After three months in the detention center, she was given two years of forced labor and admitted to the Third Team of the Xindian Women’s Labor Camp in January 2003.
Captain Meng Hao, instructor Liu Zhongmei, and team lead Wang Dali forced Ms. Zhang to study slanderous Falun Gong materials every day. She held firm to her faith and was put in solitary confinement for a period of time. She was not allowed to sleep or sit down. The guards arranged drug addicts to take turns watching her around the clock.
The guards also revoked her family visits and threatened her that her children would lose their jobs.
Constant Harassment
After Ms. Zhang was released from the labor camp in July 2004, the police and the street committee kept her underclose surveillance. They also ordered her family to watch her. Every year around major holidays or the communist regime’s major conferences, they would harass her at home and order her to fill out various forms and give blood samples. They also pressured her son’s employer to suspend him for a period of time.
Arrested Again in 2015
The Yuci District Court scheduled a hearing of the joint case against five local practitioners on May 18, 2015. Ms. Zhang went to the courthouse to support them.
As soon as she got off the bus, officers swarmed her and snatched her bag. They searched and videotaped her before stuffing her into a police cruiser. Fourteen other practitioners who also went to show their support for the defendants were arrested shortly afterwards.
The police took the 15 practitioners to the Mianlun Police Station for interrogation. They seized the cash Ms. Zhang had with her and ordered her to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. They also made her give her fingerprints and sign her name on the statements. All the practitioners were released after 2 a.m. that night.
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