Mr. Zhang Shuan from Henan Province Passes Away Due to Harassment by Authorities While His Wife Is Imprisoned

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Guo Huaniu from Henan Province was arrested by the police right before the Olympic Games were held in Beijing in 2008. Personnel from the Chang'ge City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) in Henan and the police from the State Security Division in Henan broke into Ms. Guo's home. They confiscated a colour printer, a picture of Falun Gong's founder Mr. Li Hongzhi and some fliers that expose the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Guo's husband, Mr. Zhang Shuan, was also imprisoned in the city detention centre.

Ms. Guo was imprisoned at the Chang'ge Detention Centre for about a year. Before Ms. Guo was imprisoned, she was very healthy. During her imprisonment at the detention centre, she became very skinny and lost almost half of her weight because of the persecution. She suffered high blood pressure and was very weak, and she often fainted. Although her heath had deteriorated so much, the authorities didn't release her. Instead, they sentenced her to a three-year prison term. During that time, the authorities didn't allow her family members to visit her because they were afraid that their crimes might be exposed on the Internet. Her family requested that she be allowed to get medical treatment outside of the prison, but the authorities just told her family that they would talk about it.

In addition to persecuting Ms. Guo, personnel from the Chang'ge 610 Office and the Xuchang City 610 Office in Henan often went to Mr. Zhang's home where they harassed, threatened and monitored the family. As a result, Mr. Zhang was under constant stress and pressure. In the autumn of 2009, Mr. Zhang was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery and radiation therapy. Six months later, Mr. Zhang became very skinny and his physical condition deteriorated. After the Chinese New Year in 2010, Mr. Zhang began to practise Falun Gong. His health improved day by day, and he gained some weight. Sometimes, he went out to take a walk or do some work in his vegetable field.

However, personnel from the 610 office always "visited" his home to harass him. In early September 2010, Mr. Zhang told a fellow Falun Gong practitioner that the personnel from the 610 office came to his house to investigate whether the people who were visiting him were really his relatives. Mr. Zhang told the practitioner that he had to stop practising Falun Gong because of pressure from the authorities. He died at 2:30 p.m. on September 9th, 2010. He was only in his fifties.

Ms. Guo is being held at Xinxiang Prison in Henan. During her husband's illness, she asked her husband on the phone why he hadn't come to visit her for such a long time. A guard who was monitoring their phone conversations called Ms. Guo's home and ordered her family members not to tell Ms. Guo about her husband's illness. Even now, Ms. Guo doesn't know that her husband has passed away. The couple's daughter is in high school, but she lives by herself at home.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/9/23/230036.html