Mr. Zhang Qin on Hunger Strike for Over 150 Days

On June 4th, 2009, practitioner Mr. Zhang Qi from Xuhui area of Shanghai City was arrested along with practitioners Lu Yuzhi and Ye Ying from Pudong area, and Li Yaohua and Zhang Zhibo from Luwan area. Mr. Zhang has been on a hunger strike for more than 150 days at the Xuhui Area Detention Centre.

Mr. Zhang is the technical lead at his workplace, Shengde Plastics, Inc. in Shanghai. His titles are principal engineer and the head of the quality control section. Since the persecution started on July 20th, 1999, Mr. Zhang has been persecuted multiple times. He was detained in Beijing for a month, and also detained at detention centres in Jing-an area and Xuhui area. He was later imprisoned in Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai for four years.

In June 2009, Mr. Zhang was arrested for the sixth time. His parents, who are in their eighties, are left at home without care. His father has had a stroke and his mother's health is also not good. Mr. Zhang's arrest has caused his parents deep anxiety.

Mr. Zhang has been on a hunger strike in Xuhui Area Detention Centre to protest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution of himself and his family. While he became very weak due to the persecution, he persisted in doing the Falun Gong exercises at the detention centre. The CCP authorities refused to provide medical treatment for Mr. Zhang, and instead they administered brutal force-feedings on him in the detention centre's hostile environment.

The Xuhui Area Public Security Bureau and the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) are planning to intensify the persecution of practitioners Zhang Qin, Li Yaohua, Zhang Zhibo, Lu Yuzhi and Ye Ying. On September 11th, the practitioners' cases were transferred to Xuhui Area Procuratorate Court. The persecutors were planning to manipulate the court proceedings to sentence the practitioners and keep them detained.

Mr. Zhang's attorney Peng Yongfeng was hired by his parents, and has started to investigate the case. Attorney Peng visited Mr. Zhang at the Xuhui Area Detention Centre. When attorney Peng went to Xuhui Area Court to access Mr. Zhang's case record, the court staff refused his request.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/11/2/211705.html