Ms. Zhang Guijun, Former Teacher at Shenyang Institute of Physical Education, Sentenced to Eight Years; Whereabouts Unknown

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhang Guijun, about 40, is from Jinzhou City. She was a former faculty member at the Shenyang Institute of Physical Education. On June 9th, 2011, she was arrested at her home in Beijing. The police ransacked her home and took many of her belongings away. The belongings included her personal laptop, a portable hard drive, an mp4 player, a USB drive, about 800 DVDs, her mobile phone, a Falun Gong banner, an estimated 700 bills of cash with information about the Falun Gong persecution written on them (it is unclear exactly how much money was taken because her family has not seen her since she was arrested), a printer, a DVD writer, a letter seal, and her work computer.

On February 28th, 2012, Ms. Zhang was sentenced to eight years by the court. In between her arrest and the sentence, no one knew how she had been treated. Her family was not informed of the trial, and she was not allowed to hire a lawyer to defend her. The whole process did not follow legal procedures. Ms. Zhang tried to appeal to the higher court, but the court refused to reopen the trial and maintained the initial verdict.

Ms. Zhang's family members still have no clue about where she is being detained. But even if they did, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has prohibited any visits since her arrest. Her family is worried about her.

In October 1999, Ms. Zhang was detained for 15 days because she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. In May 2003, she was detained at Masanjia Forced Labour Camp for two years and was tortured there. During this period, her husband divorced her due to the constant pressure from the CCP. Two years later, she came back home but lost her job. She was then forced to leave home to avoid the constant harassment from the police.

The following people were involved in the trial of Ms. Zhang Guijun:

Zhou Jianzhong: chief justice
Tang Lun, judge
Li Kai, acting judge
Duan Wei, court clerk: +86-10-87552369