Ms. Wang Xiuzhi, 74, from Harbin City Loses Eyesight While Detained

Name: Wang Xiuzhi
Gender: Female
Age: 74
Address: Acheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 8th, 2007
Most Recent Place of Detention: Harbin Women's Prison
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, extortion, detention

Ms. Wang Xiuzhi, 74, is a resident of Acheng District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. She was imprisoned for 18 months for distributing Falun Gong fliers beginning in May 2007. Before her release in December 2008, she had completely lost her eyesight.

Arrested and Detained

Ms. Wang and two other practitioners were reported and arrested by officers from the Liaodian Township Police Station while they were distributing Falun Gong fliers in Sanjiazi Village, Liaodian Township, Acheng District on May 8th, 2007.

The officers interrogated her, took pictures of the fliers that she carried, along with other Falun Gong printouts that they found elsewhere. Then they reported the case to the Acheng District 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong). She was taken to the Acheng District 2nd Detention Centre at night. She was held there for fifteen days before she was transferred and detained for two months at the 1st Detention Centre.

On July 31st, 2007, Ms. Wang was taken to the Seventh Division of Harbin (also called Yaziquan Detention Centre), where she began losing her eyesight. The administration of the Harbin Women's Prison ordered her family to pay 900 yuan¹, citing a physical exam towards her medical release on December 19th, 2007. The family did not pay and Ms. Wang was imprisoned at the Harbin Women's Prison.

Ms. Wang completely lost her eyesight in the prison. She was released on December 18th, 2008.

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/2010/8/2/227857.html