(Minghui.org)
Name: Yang JinjuChinese Name: 杨金菊Gender: FemaleAge: 71City: N/AProvince: BeijingOccupation: N/ADate of Death: February 3, 2025Date of Most Recent Arrest: October 2022Most Recent Place of Detention: an unknown prison
Ms. Yang Jinju was in very poor health when she completed a 1.5-year prison term in April 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong. She never recovered and passed away on February 3, 2025, Minghui.org learned recently.
The 71-year-old woman in Changping District, Beijing, did Falun Gong exercises outside her house in October 2022 and was reported to police by a neighbor. A group of officers soon arrived to raid her home and arrest her. They took her to the Changping District Detention Center.
After the Changping District Court sentenced Ms. Yang to one and a half years (exact details unknown), Ms. Yang filed an appeal with the Beijing first Intermediate Court. She wrote in her appeal that Falun Gong restored her health but the communist regime convicted her for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
It was unclear what the results of the appeal were, but Ms. Yang was made to serve the full term at an unknown prison. She was released in April 2024 and died on February 3, 2025.
Before practicing Falun Gong, Ms. Yang suffered from numerous ailments, including cervical spondylosis, stomach problems, trachoma, rhinitis, skin diseases, tracheitis, chronic headaches, back pain, leg pain, numbness in her hands and feet, cold intolerance, and insomnia. When her insomnia and headaches got really bad, she could not sleep at all and banged her head against the wall.
To make matters worse, her husband developed schizophrenia after losing his job. Her mother then passed away. Just when she felt hopeless, Ms. Yang came across Falun Gong in the second half of 1998. She was able to fall asleep in just three days, her headaches were gone in seven days, and all her other symptoms disappeared in one month.
After the communist regime started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Yang held firm to her faith and was repeatedly targeted. Prior to her prison sentence, she was given three forced labor terms totaling six and a half years.
She was given one year of forced labor in October 2000. While serving time at the Daxing District Dispatch Center, she was forced to put her hands around her head and squat for up to 9 hours every day.
The police came at Ms. Yang again at the end of 2002 and ordered her to go to a brainwashing center. She refused to get into their car, and they stuffed her into it by twisting her arms behind her back and bending her knees.
The brainwashing center did not allow Ms. Yang to sleep in an attempt to make her renounce Falun Gong. She held firm to her faith and was later given two and a half years of forced labor.
Ms. Yang was arrested again in 2008 and given three years of forced labor. She was subjected to various forms of abuse at the Daxing District Women’s Labor Camp, including long-term sleep deprivation, standing, sitting on a small stool, and denied restroom use. One time a drug addict pushed a mop into her mouth so hard that some of her teeth fell out. Blood splattered onto her clothes and floor. Another time a team captain threw her hard on the ground as if she was a sand bag.
Ms. Yang felt pain all over her body after such daily torture. Her head was heavy and her mind dazed. She became emaciated and weighed around 90 pounds. Her hair all turned gray.
When she was finally released after three years, Ms. Yang returned home to learn that her husband was unable to cope after her third forced labor term and died without seeing her one last time.
Ms. Yang struggled to recover from the health damage sustained in the labor camp. She suffered from chest pressure, chest pain, headaches, and back pain. She also had nightmares and became forgetful. Her feet were so swollen that she had to wear shoes two sizes bigger. Her toenails came off during her detention and didn’t grow back for over six months.