(Minghui.org) A woman in Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province, passed away on March 14, 2024, two months after she was released on medical parole in critical condition after nearly one year in custody for practicing Falun Gong. She was 67.
Ms. Chen Xuzhen began practicing Falun Gong in 1997 and learned to be more considerate. She no longer fought with her husband. She also recovered from pleurisy (inflammation of the tissues that line the lungs), kidney disease, and frequent colds.
After the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Chen was repeatedly arrested and detained for not renouncing her faith. The first section below briefly details the persecution she endured between 2000 and 2008. The second section is additional information on the two prison terms she served in the final years of her life.
A 3.5-Year Term for Distributing Falun Gong Materials
Ms. Chen distributed Falun Gong materials in a residential building in May 2019 and was reported to the police by a resident. Danjiangkou City Police Department officers pored over the surveillance video and located her. They arrested her at home, confiscated all her Falun Gong books and informational materials, and took her to the Shiyan City Brainwashing Center. She was later transferred to the Shiyan City Detention Center. Shiyan City oversees Danjiangkou City.
The Zhangwan District Court in Shiyan heard Ms. Chen’s case in the summer of 2020 and sentenced her to 3.5 years with a 3,000-yuan fine. The authorities did not notify her family when she was transferred to the Hubei Province Women’s Prison located in the capital city of Wuhan. Only when she contacted her loved ones from the prison did they learn she was imprisoned there.
Death after Serving Another One-Year Term
A few days after Ms. Chen was released in December 2022, the local residential committee staff members and police officers began to harass her at home. Her family feared that she would be arrested again for talking to people about Falun Gong, so they did not let her go out.
Ms. Chen managed to get out on March 2, 2023, and went to a local practitioner’s home to study the Falun Gong teachings. She was arrested there by officers from the Dongyue Road Police Station under the Zhangwan District Police Department. Her sister Ms. Chen Xuyun and the host Ms. Zhang Xingju and her son Mr. Wu Xuyong were also arrested.
Ms. Chen Xuzhen and Mr. Wu were taken to the Shiyan City Brainwashing Center that evening. The police went there several times to interrogate her. It’s not clear whether Ms. Chen Xuyun and Ms. Zhang were detained or released after their arrests.
Dongyue Road Police Station officers transferred Ms. Chen Xuzhen to the Shiyan City Detention Center on the afternoon of March 24, 2023. She soon began to experience severe chest pain. She couldn’t sleep on her back and had to remain seated, yet the inmates on duty constantly ordered her to lie down. She also couldn’t keep any food down and threw up most of what she ate. Unable to eat or sleep, she also suffered from constipation. When the inmates reported her situation to the guards, they didn’t provide any medical treatment—instead they moved her to a different cell.
When Ms. Chen appeared in the Zhangwan District Court in September 2023, she was already in serious condition. Yet presiding judge Zhang Lei only informed her family to deliver some clothes for her and make a cash deposit so she could buy daily necessities, without mentioning anything about her medical condition. Zhang sentenced Ms. Chen to one year with a 2,000-yuan fine on December 28, 2023. Judges Yang Xiaojian and Zheng Jinhua, as well clerk Wang Cheng and judges’ assistant Wang Luqi, also signed her verdict.
While serving time in the detention center, Ms. Chen’s condition continued to deteriorate. She demanded medical attention, but the guards kept ignoring her. Starting in December 2023, she often vomited at night and groaned in pain, which kept the inmates in her cell awake. Only when all the inmates began complaining to the guards about her condition did they finally take Ms. Chen to the Shiyan City People’s Hospital on January 11, 2024. The guards told the doctor that she had lost a significant amount of weight in the past four months. In a preliminary exam, the doctor diagnosed retroperitoneal lymphoma, which had metastasized to her liver.
The Zhangwan District Court called Ms. Chen’s sister, Ms. Chen Xuyun, the next day and told her to go to the detention center to sign documents for a medical parole. When Ms. Chen Xuyun picked up the documents at the court that afternoon, presiding judge Zhang said he had never seen a medical parole processed so quickly.
Ms. Chen Xuyun immediately understood why the detention center and court approved the parole so quickly when she saw her sister stumble out of the detention center.
Ms. Chen Xuzhen was unable to eat when she returned home. She could only eat some watery porridge or soft noodles. She kept vomiting and even the smell of food made her nauseous. She had severe pain in her chest, back, and abdomen. She was unable to walk and was bedridden. She was so weak that she struggled to speak.
Ms. Chen passed away on March 14, 2024, two months after her release. Even in her final days, a police officer called her husband and asked if she still practiced Falun Gong. After she passed away, the Zhangwan District Court still kept her bank account frozen. It’s not clear what the balance in that account is.
Related Reports:
Hubei Woman Released in Critical Condition, Dies Two Months Later
Shiyan City, Hubei Province: Same Court Sentences Seven Falun Gong Practitioners to Prison
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