Zhang Xingcai from Yanbian, Jilin Province Arrested and Detained

Name: Zhang Xingcai
Gender: Male
Age: 61
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Unknown

Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 16th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Changchun Public Security Hospital
City: Yanbian
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Arrest, detention, brainwashing, forced labour, torture, home ransacked

Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Xingcai has gone on a hunger strike to protest the persecution while being detained at the Changchun Public Security Hospital in Jilin Province. He was arrested on January 16th, 2010 while visiting the home of another practitioner.

Persecuted in Forced Labour Camps

Mr. Zhang has been arrested several times since the start of the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party on July 20th, 1999. He was detained in forced labour camps twice, once at the Yanji Forced Labour Camp and later at the Jiutai Forced Labour Camp in Jilin Province prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In the Jiutai Forced Labour Camp, Zhang was forced to sit on a board for up to 19 hours a day. In mid-December, guards Li Yunbo and Zhao Fengshan also designated prisoner Ma Xiaoqiang and others to open the windows of his prison cell, leaving Zhang there to freeze. Zhang's lower back and buttocks were seriously injured due to the long term sitting, and he was bedridden for eight months. After his release from prison at the end of his term, he gradually recovered his health through practising Falun Gong.

Home Ransacked, Forced into Homelessness

At around 5 a.m. on September 17th, 2009, police officers ransacked Mr. Zhang's home while his wife was home alone. The traumatic experience led to deterioration of her health. Zhang left home in order to avoid further persecution and pressure upon his family.

Arrested and Sentenced Again

Zhang was arrested again by officers from the National Security Team on January 16th, 2010, while visiting the home of Falun Gong practitioner Yin Fengqin, who later died under highly suspicious circumstances during an attempted arrest. Zhang was sent to a brainwashing centre the same day, and later sentenced to forced labour at the Jiutai Forced Labour Camp. When the labour camp refused him for not passing the physical exam, he was sent to the Changchun Public Security Hospital in Jilin Province, where he has gone on a hunger strike and is being severely persecuted.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/5/14/223603.html