(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: This is part of a series of death cases newly translated by the English site of Minghui.org. These cases have long been published on the Chinese site of Minghui.org but have not been translated until now.
Name: Liu FuxiChinese Name: 刘福玺Gender: MaleAge: 59City: JiaozhouProvince: ShandongOccupation:Date of Death: September 2016Date of Most Recent Arrest:Most Recent Place of Detention:
A 56-year-old man in Jiaozhou City, Shandong Province died in September 2016, less than three weeks after the police raided his home at around 1 a.m. on August 28 that year.
Mr. Liu Fuxi was targeted because his wife, Ms. Zhang Xiulan, was reported the night before for putting up posters exposing the persecution of their shared faith, Falun Gong.
The couple took up Falun Gong in 1996. Mr. Liu’s migraines, stomach problems, and addiction to nicotine and alcohol subsequently disappeared. His wife also recovered from arthritis and gynecological problems.
On July 21, 1999, the day after the Chinese Communist Party started the persecution of Falun Gong, the couple and their daughter went to Beijing to appeal for their right to freedom of belief. They returned to Hebei about two weeks later and saw six officers staked outside their home. Mr. Liu was immediately seized and held in custody for several days.
The police broke into the couple’s home on September 8, 1999 and arrested them, Ms. Zhang’s sister, and three friends who happened to be visiting. The six of them were not allowed to sleep for three straight nights. They were also interrogated with torture. Ms. Zhang was later taken to a facility and held there for five months. Mr. Liu was also detained for about five months before he managed to escape.
Ms. Zhang was arrested again on February 16, 2000. The police released her about eight days later after using her TV and refrigerator as collateral. Mr. Liu took their daughter to appeal in Beijing and were arrested and taken back to Jiaozhou City. The police held Mr. Liu in a metal cage in the Fuan Police Station and later transferred him to a local facility. After another four months, he was taken to a psychiatric hospital and held there for more than three months. He was forced to take unknown pills. After that, he was moved to a brainwashing center and held there for over ten days.
After Mr. Liu was released, he and his wife went into hiding for the next five years. Their daughter was also shadowed by the police. Her principal even forced her to transfer to a different school. The police also harassed her relatives.
Mr. Liu later became incapacitated and bedridden, after his mother and brother died one after another. He was terrified when the police broke in at 1 a.m. on August 28, 2016, after Ms. Zhang was reported for distributing information about Falun Gong. The police turned their home upside down and confiscated a large number of personal belongings. The mental stress took a toll on Mr. Liu’s health and he passed away less than three weeks later. He was 59 years old.
As soon as she finished arranging her husband’s funeral, Ms. Zhang was forced into displacement again to avoid further persecution. Every time she heard a police siren, she was paralyzed with fear. Her own health began to decline. She lost a significant amount of weight and became hunchbacked.
Unable to live on her own any longer, she moved in with her daughter. Before she could recover, the police deceived her daughter into opening the door on December 16, 2021, by pretending to be property management personnel. Four officers barged in and took Ms. Zhang away. Her mother, who was staying with them, was petrified and passed away the next day.
Ms. Zhang was tried in the Huangdao District Court on August 23, 2022, and sentenced to eight years in prison. Her family wasn’t allowed to attend the trial.
According to an insider, Ms. Zhang was merely skin and bones and extremely weak. Despite her condition, the guards still beat her and verbally abuse her to try to force her to renounce Falun Gong.