Ms. Zhang Zhaozhi Died in 2009 After Years of Persecution

Name: Zhang Zhaozhi
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Address: Beichen District, Tianjin
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: October 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2001
Most Recent Place of Detention: Banqiao Women's Forced Labour Camp
City: Tianjin
Persecution Suffered: Sleep deprivation, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, imprisonment, torture, rape, physical restraint, detention
Key Persecutors: Wang Baorong, head of the 610 Office; Xu Youbing, director of Beichen Police Station

Ms. Zhang Zhaozhi died in October 2009, after suffering years of persecution.

The Beichen Police Department arrested more than 100 practitioners at the beginning of 2001, and sent half of them to a forced labour camp. Ms. Zhang was arrested by Xu Youbing, director of Beichen Police Station, and Liu Feng, a local police officer, and sentenced to 18 months of forced labour.

Ms. Zhang was tortured while in the Banjiao Women's Forced Labour Camp. She was forced to stand still for hours, work overtime, and sit on a narrow bench in the same position for hours. Guards deprived her of sleep, and ordered two inmates to closely monitor her. She was not allowed to talk to anyone and if she did, she was beaten, kicked and verbally abused by the guards.

The camp guards tortured Ms. Zhang intensely because she was steadfast in her belief in Falun Gong. After suffering for a long time under very difficult conditions, she developed high blood pressure, and kidney disease. Her face was red, and her feet were so swollen it was difficult for her to wear shoes. After having a physical exam, a camp doctor told the guards to get her out of the camp as soon as possible.

After her release, she was taken to the hospital by her family. Her systolic pressure was above 250 mmHG and the diastolic pressure was above 120 mmHG. The doctor said that her kidneys had been damaged beyond recovery.

Agents from the local 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) had deducted some money from her pension and she received only 500 yuan¹ a month. When her parents brought her home to live, officers from the Beichen Police Station and the local police station in her parents' neighbourhood repeatedly harassed the family at home.

Wang Baorong, head of the local 610 Office, went to the forced labour camp many times with the intention of having her sentenced to another 3 years. The camp arranged for her to have physical exams many times, but they had to give up because of her weak physical condition.

Ms. Zhang died in October 2009.

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.org/mh/articles/2010/5/16/223759.html