Ms. Zhang Mengxia Sentenced to Five Years of Imprisonment After Suffering Multiple Arrests, Brainwashing and Torture

Ms. Zhang Mengxia was born in 1967 and is employed by the Shirengou Iron Mine at the Tangshan Steel Corporation in Tangshan City. Before practising Falun Gong she was weak and suffered from Meniere's syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis. In October 2000 she started practising Falun Gong. After reading a Falun Gong book, all her illnesses disappeared. From then on she started walking on the path of cultivation and followed the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.

Because Ms. Zhang refused to write a guarantee statement¹ in May 2002, officials at the Shirengou Iron Mine escorted her to a brainwashing centre to "reform²" her. While in the centre, Ms. Zhang was deprived of sleep for over two weeks, which created swelling in her legs. However, the ruthless abuse did not stop her from practising Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang eventually escaped from the brainwashing centre. She chose to become homeless to avoid further persecution. In October 2002 she mailed leaflets exposing the persecution to people at the Shirengou Iron Mine. The officials discovered that the materials were from Chengde City. Shirengou Iron Mine general manager Xia Desheng and Security Division supervisor Zhang Guoshen sent someone to Chengde who arrested Ms. Zhang. She was imprisoned in the Zunhua Detention Centre where her four limbs were cuffed together, and she was subjected to brutal physical tortures.

Despite all the hardships, Ms. Zhang persisted in her belief and refused to be "reformed." In March 2003, under huge pressure from the government, her husband, Yang Fujun divorced her and was granted custody of their daughter.

In April 2003, Ms. Zhang's parents took her to their home in Tangshan City. It is said that they spent a large amount of money to bribe the authorities to release her.

In 2005, Ms. Zhang was once again arrested in Tangshan and was released after a 15-day hunger strike.

On October 1st, 2007, Ms. Zhang, accompanied by practitioners Xu Shuqin, Li Liping, Zhao Fengxia, Zhang Yuehua, and Wang Cuihua, went to the Eastern Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty (a tourist attraction) in Zunhua City to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution. The Eastern Tombs (Dongling) Culture Heritage Department and local police station officers arrested her and detained her in Zunhua Detention Centre, where she is still being held. She has been brutally force-fed, causing her hands and face to be covered with blood. It was too miserable to look at.

On April 17th, 2008, six other practitioners together with Ms. Zhang were sentenced at the Zunhua Municipal Court. She was sentenced to a five-year term.

Note

1. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

2. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/5/15/178501.html