Information on Seven Elderly Falun Gong Practitioners Who Died as a Result of the Persecution

Mr. Zhang Zhonglu, 60, a resident of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, had suffered with a stomach flu for decades, but quickly regained his health after beginning the practice of Falun Gong in 1997. Since the beginning of the persecution, on July 20th 1999, the staff members of the 610 Office (1) threatened, monitored and attempted to brainwash Mr. Zhang. As a result of the illegal harassment and threats by the neighbourhood committee, street office and police station, Mr. Zhang passed away in December 2004.

Mr. Hu Mingxiang, 59, a retired employee from the Electricity Bureau of Leshan City, Sichuan Province, was diagnosed with cancer before 1997. Soon after he started to practise Falun Gong, the cancer disappeared. After the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong, he was put on the "blacklist" because he had been in charge of a Falun Dafa site producing leaflets exposing the persecution for the local area. The local police confiscated his property and a lot of the materials. Because of the persecution, Mr. Hu suffered a relapse of the cancer and died.

Mr. Bi Yuefa, 78, was a resident of Nong'an County, Changchun City, Jilin Province. He went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong on February 13th 2000, and was detained at a local detention centre. Mr. Bi protested the illegal treatment with a hunger strike, but passed away in August 2000, soon after he was released.

Ms. Yu Shuzhen, over eighty years old, lived in Jilin City, Jilin Province. She was steadfast in studying Falun Dafa practising the exercises. When her granddaughter was sentenced to three years of forced labour, she lost her good cultivation environment, eventually resulting in her death on July 15th 2005.

Another Nong'an native in Jilin Province, Ms. Xu Shulan, 68, benefited from Falun Gong after learning the practise in 1996, and had several illnesses cured. After she appealed to the provincial government on behalf of Falun Gong in July 1999, she was frequently harassed by the local police, sometimes several times a day. In addition, Ms. Xu's husband, daughter, and son-in-law were also taken to the town government or police station for brainwashing, where they were forced to hand in their Falun Gong books and renounce Falun Gong. In the face of such intense mental and physical persecution, Ms. Xu stopped practising Falun Gong. In February 2000, her two daughters appealed for Falun Gong in Beijing. They were detained in the detention centre of Nong'an County, and both of them were fired from their jobs and were charged 12,000 yuan. (2) Ms. Xu was even forcibly body-searched when she visited her neighbour. Under this high pressure, Xu Shulan eventually died in February 2004.

A Guizhou practitioner, Mr. Yang Wenxue, was frequently harassed by corrupt officials and was reported to the police by his family members. As a result, he died at 78 years of age in January 2005.

Ms. Lu Guiying was a Hunan Province Falun Gong practitioner in her seventies. After beginning the practise of Falun Gong in 1996, she enjoyed good health and happiness until July 20th 1999. Under extreme mental pressure brought about by the persecution, Ms. Lu died in August 2001.

Note:

(1) "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

(2) "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.org/mh/articles/2005/8/9/108047.html