Older Practitioner Ms. Zhang Zhongfen from Chongqing Dies as a Result of Persecution

Name: Zhang Zhongfen
Gender: Female
Age: 50s
Address: B Residential Area, the Yubei District, Chongqing
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: June 14th, 2011
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Maojiashan Women's Forced Labour Camp
City: Chongqing
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, extortion, detention, forced labour, torture, harassment

Ms. Zhang Zhongfen from Taihong Township, Luoqi Town, the Yubei District, Chongqing died as a result of persecution on June 14th.

Ms. Zhang started practising Falun Gong around 1999.

After the persecution started, Ms. Zhang went to appeal for Falun Gong at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 2002. She was arrested and held for more than ten days. The police officers brutally abused and tortured her, threw her head against a wall, causing it to bleed profusely, and she suffered a severe concussion. Beijing police extorted more than 10,000 yuan¹ from her husband, and notified officials from the Luoqi Town Police Station in the Yubei District to take her home. Ms. Zhang was directly taken to the Maojiashan Women's Forced Labour Camp to be held for a year.

Ms. Zhang was arrested again around August 2008 as she spoke with people about Falun Gong at a farmers' market. She was once again subjected to one year of forced labour, and held in the Maojiashan Women's Forced Labour Camp. Physical abuse and mistreatment caused Ms. Zhang's head to be seriously injured, and her leg was fractured. Due to her injuries resulting from extreme abuse, she lost the ability to take care of herself, and was once again in critical condition. The labour camp officials informed her family to take her home for medical treatment.

After her release, Luoqi Police officers frequently harassed her at home, attempting to force her to write a guarantee statement to give up her beliefs. Ms. Zhang passed away on June 14th.

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://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/6/24/242931.html