Ms. Zhao Lianhua Dies as Result of the Persecution

Name: Zhao Lianhua
Gender: Female
Age: 46
Address: Yanji City, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: October 30th, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2001
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jilin Province Women's Forced Labour Camp located in Heizuizi Area of Changchun City
City: Yanji
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, torture, extortion, fired from workplace, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Ms. Zhao Lianhua was of Korean ethnicity. Before practising Falun Gong, she suffered poor health, but after learning the practice in 1998, she regained her health and hope for life. On February 20th, 2000, Ms. Zhao went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and she was subsequently arrested, detained in the Yanji City Beijing Liaison Office for several days, then detained in the Yanji City Detention Centre. She was released after 18 days, for she was very ill due to brutal mistreatment.

After she returned home, the police constantly harassed Ms. Zhao. They tried to force her write statements to renounce Falun Gong, but Ms. Zhao resolutely refused. The police then tried to arrest and take her to a brainwashing centre. Ms. Zhao had to leave home to avoid being arrested. She did not dare to return home to the day she died.

In 2000, Ms. Zhao went to Laotougou Town to pass out fliers about the persecution, and she was arrested. Several large officers tortured her while interrogating her in the Laotougou Town Police Station. Her face was disfigured and her body was covered with bruises from the beating. She escaped by jumping from the second floor window, injuring her leg. After she recovered, she went to Laotougou Town again to escape the police.

The Yanji City police were searching for her everywhere, found her son's school, and later found her through following her son. The police stormed into her temporary residence, ransacked it and arrested her. This incident severely traumatised her son.

Ms. Zhao was once again detained in the Yanji City Detention Centre. She went on hunger strike to protest the persecution. The police released her when she was dying, but they arrested her again only a few days later, before she had recovered. This time, they detained her in the Heizuizi Labour Camp. Her life was in danger after only a few days of being in the Camp, and she was rushed in the Police Hospital to be rescued. She was released on medical parole within 16 days of entering the labour camp, and the police extorted 2600 yuan¹ from her husband.

Starting from 2002, Ms. Zhao was forced to live away from home to avoid being arrested. In the ten years of persecution, Ms. Zhao's family has not had any peace in their lives, and they have lived in terror and oppression. Ms. Zhao was forced to stop working and could not return home like a normal citizen. Ms. Zhao never recovered from her mental and physical injuries and died on October 30th, 2009.

There have been over 30 Falun Gong practitioners who have died as result of the persecution in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/11/22/213071.html