Husband Imprisoned, Wife Sentenced to Forced Labour

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zheng Hongxia was arrested by agents from the Qinghe District 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and the Qinghe Domestic Security Division in Huaian City, Jiangsu Province, on May 12th. After being detained for a month, she was sentenced to one year of forced labour and taken to the Jiangsu Women's Forced Labour Camp on June 12th. Her husband, also a practitioner, has been imprisoned since 2009.

Ms. Zheng, 35, and her husband Mr. Chen Shao, 40, operate a small typing and copy shop near the Huaiyin Technology College on North Beijing Road in Huian. The couple came across Falun Gong books in September 2008. They were touched by the principle of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance in the books and began practising Falun Gong.

In May 2009, Mr. Chen was arrested for copying Falun Gong materials and subsequently sentenced to three years in prison. Ignoring the threats from Judge Feng Jiandong and others in the courtroom, Ms. Zheng bravely plead “not guilty” for her husband at the trial in the Qingpu District Court.

Officers Chang Shulin, Wang Jianhui, and others from the Qinghe 610 Office and Domestic Security Division, held Ms. Zheng without a reason in the Qinghe Police Department in July 2010. They held her down, stepped on her arms and legs, then took pictures of her and took her fingerprints. Ms. Zheng was detained for 15 days and beaten many times by guards and inmates at the detention centre.

To cut off the family's livelihood, the Qinghe Domestic Security Division pressured the Huaiyin Technology College to end their lease with Ms. Zheng in September 2010. They also cut off the power, trying to force her out of business. But her business survived after Ms. Zheng disclosed their ill intentions to related parties.

After Ms. Zheng's latest arrested in May 2011, their son, who is in third grade, was left with his grandparents who are in their 70s and have no income.

Qi Hongting, director of Huaian 610 Office: 86-517-83120001 (Office), 86-13901408681 (Mobile)
Pan Jiaxin, director of Qinghe Police Department: 86-13801408922 (Mobile)
Chang Shulin, director of Qinghe Domestic Security Division: 86-13852382345 (Mobile)
Zhang Yufeng, deputy director of Huaian 610 Office: 86-517-83120208 (Office), 86-13905230800 (Mobile)
Xu Gangyi, deputy director of Huaian 610 Office: 86-517-83120184 (Office), 86-15950354013(Mobile)
Wang Guoqing, deputy director of Huaian 610 Office: 86-517-83128019 (Office), 86-13905236261(Mobile)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/6/21/242781.html