Ms. Zhao Xue Close to Death in Prison But is Still Refused Medical Parole

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhao Xue from Dalian City, Liaoning Province was arrested by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents in 2010 and was sentenced to five years in prison. She has been detained in the Women's Prison of Liaoning for three years. Due to the severe torture, she is unable to take care of herself and has to be in a wheelchair.

Ms. Zhao's family has demanded her release on medical parole but were refused by the prison authorities. Later, prison guards saw that Ms. Zhao's condition got more serious, so they grudgingly agreed to release her. Nevertheless, police officers in the Xigang Branch Police Department and personnel from Baiyun Neighbourhood Committee, who have participated in persecuting Ms. Zhao, were trying to shirk responsibility. At present, they are still reluctant to release her.

It was reported that on December 9th, 2013, two guards sent by the prison took Ms. Zhao to Dalian City for a procedural verification on medical parole. During this time, an approval (a signature and seal) was required from Baiyun Neighbourhood Committee and the Xigang Branch Police Department. However, for three days, these two agencies didn't take the responsibility and instead said that Ms. Zhao was just pretending to be sick.

Background Information

Ms. Zhao Xue used to suffer from cancer. After she began practising Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), her illness disappeared miraculously. Even when the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Zhao was still very firm in her faith and continued the practice. She had been arrested by the CCP over 10 times for telling people the truth about Falun Gong.

Practitioners successfully inserted a programme exposing the persecution of Falun Gong at the Dalian Traffic Radio Broadcasting Station in October 2010, in order to bring the truth to those who had been poisoned by the lies of the CCP. After the incident, the CCP authorities were extremely panicked. Zhou Yongkang, Secretary of the Politics and Legal Committee of the CCP, personally came to Dalian City to mobilise all police, even the army, in an attempt to arrest practitioners.

Ms. Zhao was deemed as a key persecution target. She was followed and monitored by Jiao Jian and other police officers. She was arrested by police from the Houjiagou Police Station on November 15th, 2010. After the arrest, she was brutally tortured, and hospitalized in Central Hospital of Dalian for over 10 days. She was later transferred to the Yaojia Detention Centre in Dalian where she was detained for five months. Then, without informing her family, the CCP court sentenced her to five years in jail.

Three days after she was taken to the Women's Prison of Liaoning in May 2011, her life was endangered due to torture. Two prison guards visited Ms. Zhao's aunt in Dalian City and told her to come and see her. The prison authorities had informed Ms. Zhao's family twice about her critical condition.

Ms. Zhao's brother and cousin went to see her in the prison in early December 2011. She was sitting in a wheelchair and looked disfigured. She used to be 170 lbs, but she was emaciated and only weighed about 80 lbs. She was incontinent and her teeth were missing. Her blood pressure reached 270 mmHg, and she was unable to take care of herself. She was on the verge of death and was already once revived from death. Her family demanded her release on medical parole, but it would be granted only under the condition that she stop practising Falun Gong.

When Ms. Zhao's aunt again went to see her in the prison on March 26th, 2012, she was sitting in the wheelchair, she was still emaciated, and her blood pressure was over 200 mmHg. She was nearly deaf and would vomit whatever she ate. She was diagnosed with a stomach cyst.

According to medical texts, a stomach cyst is caused by trauma, chemical corrosion and other factors. The means that the CCP uses in persecuting practitioners include torture, forced labour and poisonous drugs.

Ms. Zhao was a perfectly healthy person before she was arrested. She was persecuted so severely within a short period of time. All people who were involved in persecuting her cannot avoid legal responsibility.

Additionally, in recent years, all of Ms. Zhao's personal belongings and property were taken by the police. What she has left was rent collected from her tenant. The police wouldn't even spare her the rent. Police officer Wang from the local police station once called her tenant to hand him the money.

Individuals who are responsible for the persecution of Ms. Zhao :
Baiyun Neighbourhood Committee: Secretary Lin, Bien, Zhao, Sun Shiping
Xigang Branch Police Department: Luo, male, in his 40s.