76 Year-Old Man Imprisoned for Not Renouncing His Faith Dies Two Months Before Term Ends

A 76-year-old man died in Duyun Prison, less than two months before finishing a two-year term for not renouncing his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

The police showed up at Mr. Zheng Jucheng's home in early March 2019 and learned from his neighbours that he lived by himself with no family around. So they informed the neighbours of his death but didn't say exactly when he passed away.

Mr. Zheng was a construction contractor in Anshun City, Guizhou Province. His wife and daughter abandoned him more than twenty years ago after he went bankrupt after his business failed.

Introduced by a friend, he began practising Falun Gong in 2002, which helped him to gain hope, and confidence to start a new life. He quit many bad habits and became more open-minded and considerate to people.

Because he distributed information about Falun Gong, Mr. Zheng was arrested on April 30, 2017 after being reported to the police. He was held at Puding County Detention Center. When his friends went there to visit him, the guards accepted the money and clothing they brought for him, but denied all visitation.

He was secretly sentenced to two years in Duyun Prison a few months later. When his friends went to visit him before the 2018 Chinese New Year, he had already been taken to the prison.

The prison guards ordered the inmates to torture Mr. Zheng. They poked him in the eyes with their fingers, pinched and stabbed his nose and ears with toothpicks, pinched his nipples, slapped him in the face, punched and kicked him, and hit him in the testicles. He became incontinent and paralysed on one side of his body.

According to information collected by Minghui.org, at least 128 Falun Gong practitioners had served time at Duyun Prison as of October 2017, for not renouncing their faith. Their terms ranged from two to fifteen years. Four of the practitioners were tortured to death. In particular, Mr. Wu Botong died five days after he was admitted to the prison. More practitioners became disabled or severely injured as a result of the tortures.