Peasant Woman Arrested Nine Times for Telling People About the Persecution of Falun Gong

Name: Zhang Shufeng
Gender: Female
Age: 40
Address: Jiugang Village, Shengcheng Street Office, Shouguang City, Shandong Province
Occupation: Peasant

Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 2008
Most recent place of detention: Masanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp
City: Shenyang
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Detention, extortion, brainwashing, beatings, food deprivation, torture, electric shock, home ransacked, forced labour, force-feedings

Ms. Zhang Shufeng is now being persecuted in a forced labour camp. Since July 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) orchestrated the persecution of Falun Gong, she has been arrested nine times and brutally persecuted both mentally and physically, all at the hands of the Shouguang City government and the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). She has also suffered great economic losses, and all her family members are living in fear.

On July 20th, 1999, staff members from the Shouguang City government forcefully took her to the Dongguan Village Committee to persecute her. They began by detaining her for several days as they tried to make her give up her practice. While she was detained, they forced her to pay a fee of 50 yuan¹ per day.

In late November 1999, staff members from Shouguang Township once again took Ms. Zhang Shufeng to the Dongguang Village Committee. At that time, her child was only three years old, so she brought her child with her. She was told that she would have to attend a "one-day study" brainwashing session and had to pay 100 yuan. During the "study" time, they try to brainwash practitioners by slandering Falun Gong and using the threat of torture to try to force them to give up Falun Gong practice. There were dozens of practitioners detained there at the time. Among them, practitioners Zhang Mingxiu, Wang Haifeng, Liu Hongjun, Zhang Zhaoyu, Ma Chunlan, Zhang Shuli, and Zhang Shufeng were all detained four times. Ms. Zhang Shufeng was fined 5,000 yuan this time before being released.

In late December 1999, Shouguang City personnel once again took Ms. Zhang to a meeting room in the Shouguang township government and detained her for several days. For five days they would not give her anything to eat and tried to make her to curse Falun Gong. She was made to stand for a long time with her arms raised. When she did not keep her arms even, they would hit the back of her hands with a wooden board. All the detained Falun Gong practitioners suffered both physically and mentally. They were fined and beaten terribly.

In late June 2000, Shouguang City once again instigated the arrests of dozens of practitioners. Liu Xizhong the assistant township Party secretary, organised some thugs, broke into Ms. Zhang's home, and took her away. They detained her in Shouguang Township Government for several days and extorted 10,000 yuan from her before releasing her.

On October 26th, 2000, after hearing that the CCP was planning to slander Falun Gong, Ms. Zhang and her two sisters went to Beijing to appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong. They opened a "Falun Gong is good" banner and were arrested and taken back to their hometown. They were detained in Shouguang Detention Centre for over two months. They were brutally persecuted. Cold water was poured all over them. Ms. Zhang was forced to sit on a cold metal chair for three days and nights. They would not give her anything to eat or drink and they shocked her with an electronic baton. They also extorted another 800 yuan from her. Two days after she was released, they arrested her again and took her to a meeting room in Shouguang Township. Liu Fengchun was also detained there at that time for several days and was not allowed to eat or drink anything.

All of the above six arrests happened while she was putting up posters or handing out truth-clarification materials. Each time she was arrested by plainclothes officers.

The seventh time Ms. Zhang was arrested, the CCP thugs climbed up the wall of her home and arrested her. They ransacked her home and took away her Falun Gong books. She was detained in the Shouguang City 610 Office.

She was severely abused and over worked. The harsh environment and foul meals (there were countless worms in the vegetables) made it difficult for her to eat. She became very weak. At one time she lost consciousness for over ten days. While she was unconscious, they carried her out and handcuffed her to a metal chair. They then force fed her cooked flour filled with salt, which caused her stomach to bleed and she developed asthma. The police from the 610 Office were afraid of taking responsibility for her demise, so they transferred her to the forced labour camp in Wang Village. At that time she was already in a coma and near death, so the forced labour camp in Wang Village refused to accept her. Zhao Chunli from the 610 Office said they would pay more money, but the labour camp still refused to take her. The 610 Office police then had to take her home. On their way to her home, Zhao Chunli told the other officers that they should dig a hole near the road and bury her. Ms. Zhang, who had been unconscious, heard him and said loudly, "Police officer Zhao Chunli!" This really frightened Zhao Chunli.

The eighth time, Ms. Zhang and many other practitioners were arrested and taken to the 610 Office. After midnight, she and another practitioner used her own house key and miraculously opened the door of the 610 Office and went straight to Beijing to appeal. They were arrested again and detained for seven days and then released. She did not dare to go home and subject her family to the terror of the 610 Office police, so she became homeless for over two months.

The ninth time, she was arrested before the Olympic Games in 2008, when Shouguang City personnel arrested hundreds of practitioners in the area. Ms. Zhang was arrested in April and taken to the No. 1 Team of Masanjia Women's Forced Labour Camp in Shenyang. Her family said that they were told she would be released in July 2009, but to date she remains incarcerated because she will not write a repentance statement to renounce practising Falun Gong.

Note

1. "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.ca/mh/articles/2010/4/22/221966.html