(Minghui.org)
Name: Zhu ChunxiuChinese Name: 朱春秀Gender: FemaleAge: 74City: YueyangProvince: Hunan Occupation: AccountantDate of Death: June 15, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 21, 2016Most Recent Place of Detention: Hunan Province Women’s Prison
Because Ms. Zhu Chunxiu held firm to her faith in Falun Gong after the Chinese Communist Party ordered the nationwide persecution in July 1999, the Yueyang City, Hunan Province, resident was repeatedly arrested, held in brainwashing centers, and served an 18-month prison term. Her pension was also suspended and her family members were implicated in the persecution. Succumbing to the ongoing mental distress, devastation of physical torture and financial persecution, Ms. Zhu passed away on June 15, 2024. She was 74.
Ms. Zhu was born in 1950 amidst the political turmoil taking place under the communist regime. Without enough food, she often dived into a lake to collect lotus seeds or water chestnuts, but contracted the parasitic disease caused by blood flukes. In addition, she also struggled with chronic colitis, rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, and long-term dizziness. Her decades of suffering came to a halt after she took up Falun Gong in 1997. She didn’t only regain her health, but also had a brighter outlook on life. Ms. Zhu enjoyed the best two years of her life before the persecution started in July 1999.
Multiple Arrests and Financial Persecution in the Early Years
Ms. Zhu went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on December 26, 2000, and was arrested by officers from the Junshan District Domestic Security Division from Yueyang. She was illegally detained for ten days and her family was forced to pay the police 5,000 yuan.
Zhang Yuxiang, who was Ms. Zhu’s manager at the Junshan District Construction Planning Bureau, and another manager from the bureau harassed Ms. Zhu at her home in the spring of 2001 and ordered her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused to sign it, Zhang signed it on her behalf.
Ms. Zhu was arrested again in July 2002 after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. Officers from the Luoyang Police Station first took her to the Yueyang City First Detention Center for an unknown amount of time and then transferred her to the Hubin Lockup for 15 days. The police extorted another 5,000 yuan from her family during this round of detention.
Peng Changhua, the former director of the Qianlianghu Justice Bureau and current director of the Qianlianghu 610 Office, drove to Ms. Zhu’s home around September 2002. He took her to the Cengshanyayuan Brainwashing Center for over 20 days. She remained firm in practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Zhu was taking a bus to visit her soon-to-give-birth younger daughter in July 2003, when she noticed that Deng Hongqiu of the Junshan District 610 Office was following her. When Deng realized that Ms. Zhu had discovered him, he had Junshan District Domestic Security Division officers have the bus stopped. They dragged Ms. Zhu out, showered her with kicks and punches, and took her to a room full of torture instruments in the Junshan District Domestic Security Division.
The police ordered Ms. Zhu to stand facing the wall. Although they didn’t use the torture instruments on her given her strong protest, they beat her and interrogated her overnight.
After taking Ms. Zhu to the Hubin Lockup the next day to serve a 15-day detention, officer Zhao Wenhua and his colleagues spent over 2,000 yuan at a restaurant and forced Ms. Zhu’s husband to pay for it. They then raided her home, confiscated her Falun Gong books, and extorted another 2,000 yuan from her family.
Chen Ailiang, the head of the Junshan District 610 Office suspended Ms. Zhu’s pension for a year, resulting in a 5,000-yuan loss. The authorities also harassed her husband and threatened to suspend his salary as well. Unable to handle the repeated persecution, her husband became depressed and was forced to divorce Ms. Zhu.
Ms. Zhu was arrested in the first half of 2005 and taken to a brainwashing center. After she was released, she delivered some Falun Gong informational materials to police officer Peng Jianmin, hoping to persuade him to stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. In retaliation, the police arrested her ten days later and detained her at the Hubin Lockup for another 15 days. During this time, officers Li Qiliang, Zhao Wenhua and Fu Zuai interrogated her and attempted to force her to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused to comply, Fu threatened to sentence her to prison.
Ms. Zhu’s next arrest was on August 7, 2011, after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a wedding. The police interrogated her again and detained her at the Junshan Lockup for five days.
While helping another practitioner, Ms. Cai Guijiao, harvest cotton on November 3, 2012, Ms. Zhu was seized by Xiang Yuehua of the Junshan District Domestic Security Division, Fang Cheng of the Caisanghu Town Police Station and Shen Cheng of the Caisanghu Town Justice Bureau. They took her to a brainwashing session at the Cengshan Town Senior Center. Five officers, including Peng Changhua, Zhang Shanwen, Liu Qiongfang, Yuan Chunhua and Li Xudong, forced her to fingerprint a statement to renounce Falun Gong on November 15.
Sentenced to 18 Months
Ms. Zhu was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong again on September 21, 2016 and was arrested by officers from the Lou District Domestic Security Division. She was held at the Hubin Detention Center for ten days and then transferred to the Yunxi Detention center. After the police submitted her case to the Lou District Procuratorate, her family went there to demand her release. The prosecutor demanded 30,000 yuan in exchange for their promise to not indict her. Her family refused to comply.
The Lou District Court held a hearing on Ms. Zhu’s case on December 15, 2016, without informing her beforehand. She didn’t have legal representation, nor did she have the chance to prepare for the written defense. She briefly testified that she didn’t violate any law in practicing Falun Gong. She demanded that the judge acquit her, so that she could return home to care for her 89-year-old mother.
Only after the judge adjourned the session, did the bailiff ask Ms. Zhu to turn around. She was surprised to see her son, daughter, son-in-law, sister and several other family members in the gallery. Her son told her that the police found him at his workplace in Beijing and forced his manager to cut his pay by a significant percentage, which resulted in great financial difficulty for him and his family.
The judge later sentenced Ms. Zhu to 18 months. She was taken to the Hunan Province Women’s Prison in April 2017.
Tortured in Prison
Because Ms. Zhu refused to renounce Falun Gong, the guards took her to a strictly-managed cell on April 28, 2017 for intensified brainwashing. She was forced to sit on a small bench for extended periods of time and her buttocks developed sores as a result.
One day, eight inmates were directed by a guard to put photos of the Falun Gong founder under her buttocks and feet, and even into her mouth. They said to her, “This is the country’s prison institution and you have to follow the orders here.” She struggled to get the photos away and was placed in solitary confinement in August, where she was ordered to watch videos defaming Falun Gong and to hand-copy articles slandering Falun Gong.
As she refused to comply, the inmates put Falun Gong founder’s photos everywhere on her body and used a toilet brush to brush her teeth. After that, they denied her use of the restroom. She soiled her pants, and they poured cold water all over her. She was also forced to stand from dawn to midnight. This torture lasted for 12 days until she finally gave in. Her hair turned white and she couldn’t stand any more.
Ms. Zhu was moved back to her regular cell on October 15, 2017. The guards felt that she didn’t really give up Falun Gong and forced her to sit and sleep on the Falun Gong founder’s photos. They threatened to send her to a psychiatric hospital and feed her with nerve-damaging drugs. She had no choice but to transcribe statements defaming Falun Gong. Her emotional suffering never went away after she was released on March 20, 2018.
Continued Persecution After Her Release
The day after Ms. Zhu was released from the prison, the Junshan District 610 Office ordered her to report to them. She went there, only to be told that her pension had been suspended since her arrest. The agents said that only after she wrote a statement to renounce and denounce Falun Gong, would they reinstate her pension. When she refused to comply, her daughter wrote the statements on her behalf.
The Junshan District Social Security Bureau suspended Ms. Zhu’s pension again for nine months in 2020. She lost over 20,000 yuan as a result.
Never recovering from the physical and mental torture in prison, Ms. Zhu was dealt another hard blow with the financial persecution. She had pain all over her body and her back became bent at a 90-degree angle. She gradually became incapacitated and was unable to talk. She passed away on June 15, 2024, in a nursing home.
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