70-Year-Old Woman Driven to Mental Disorder by Persecution

Name: Zhang Shuxiang
Gender: Female
Age: about 70
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Retired
Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 12th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Shandong Province Second Women's Forced Labour Camp
City: Zhaoyuan
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Brainwashing, solitary confinement, torture, extortion, and detention
Key Persecutors: Ji Xiaodong and Qu Tao

Ms. Zhang Shuxiang, about 70 years old, is a resident of Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province. On June 12th, 2010, she was arrested by the local 610 Office [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong] while she was telling people the facts about Falun Gong and taken to the Zhaoyuan Brainwashing Centre.

In the brainwashing centre, she was confined to a tiny, dark, solitary cell without any ventilation. She was not allowed to leave the cell or talk to anyone. Ms. Zhang held a hunger strike for 18 days to protest the detention. During that time, the brainwashing centre officials, Ji Xiaodong and Qu Tao, beat her with steel batons. She was severely bruised. She passed out four times during the torture and her mind became disordered.

Zhaoyuan City 610 Office and brainwashing centere officials ordered her to sign a statement renouncing Falun Gong. They secretly sentenced her to two years of forced labour. On September 2nd, 2010, she was sent to the Shandong Province Second Women's Forced Labour Camp. Her family was unaware of her transfer until they tried to visit her at the brainwashing centre.

After ten days in the labour camp, camp officials released her on medical parole due to her mental disorder. Her family took her home on September 12th, 2010.

After returning home, Zhaoyuan City 610 Office agents continued to go to her home to harass her. They tried to force her to go to the psychiatric hospital for evaluation. The officers also blatantly tried to extort large sums of money from her family if they did not agree to having her evaluated. Ms. Zhang became frightened and ran away from home. Her whereabouts are unknown, and her family and friends are worried about her safety.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/11/10/232263.html