Ms. Zhang Guozhen Disabled and Contracts Heart Disease Due to Torture

Ms. Zhang Guozhen, a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested on November 3rd, 2012. During interrogation she was tortured, resulting in a comminuted fracture of her leg and nerve necrosis.

Arrested by Police Lying in Wait

Someone she knew called Ms. Zhang on November 3rd, 2012, and asked her to come home. When Ms. Zhang got there, police officers who had been waiting for her arrested her and took her to the Nong'an County Detention Centre.

When she was interrogated early in the morning on November 7th, 2012, she was tortured. Tang Ke, the director of the Nong'an Domestic Security Division, and several officers hung her by her thumbs. Four officers beat her brutally with sticks and plastic hoses. They ordered her to give them the names of other practitioners, but she refused to comply. She was dragged back to the ward at 9:00 p.m.

She could not walk or even stand up. The inmates asked for a doctor, who discovered that her legs were badly mutilated and that she was injured all over. The 30 inmates were so shocked that they sobbed after seeing her injuries.

Ms. Zhang could not take care of herself and became bedridden. She was treated in the Jilin Province Forced Labour Camp Hospital for almost a month with a comminuted fracture of her leg and nerve necrosis of her leg.

Sentenced to Prison

A total of 8 practitioners - Ms. Zhang Guozhen, Mr. Liu Wei, Mr. Yang Hongbiao, Mr. Xiu Jixue, Mr. Chang Baojun, Ms. Wang Yajuan, Ms. Yang Weijuan, and Mr. Su Xiufu - were sentenced at the Nong'an County Court on October 11th, 2013.

They were not allowed to represent themselves or speak in their own defence. Judge Guo Qingqi read the evidence, because the Procurator read too slowly.

The eight practitioners were sentenced to prison terms of from 7 to 12 years on October 31st, 2013. Ms. Zhang Guozhen was sentenced to 10 years, to be served in Jilin Province Women's Prison.

She went on a hunger strike and was very emaciated. She can no longer walk on her own and has to rely on two people to help her. She also developed hydrocardia.

In her 50s, she is retired from the Nong'an County Oil Refinery Factory. She started practising Falun Gong in November 1997. Since the persecution started in 1999, she has been tortured, arrested, and held many times. She had to leave home to avoid arrest.

Parties Involved in the Persecution of Ms. Zhang:

Jilin Province Woman's Prison
Wu Zeyun, director: +86-14768199088 (mobile)
Wang Lijun, deputy director: +86-13424483338 (mobile)
Sun Jisheng, instructor of the Education Ward: +86-15152136789(mobile)
Guan Yunxia, president of the hospital: +86-13352168887 (mobile)