Zhaoyuan City Policemen Arrest Older Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Zhong Zhaofen to Meet Forced Labour Quota

Name: Zhong Zhaofen
Gender: Female
Age: 50
Address: Cangkouchenjia Village, Zhangxing Town, Zhaoyuan City
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 8th, 2011
Most Recent Place of Detention: Lingnan Brainwashing Centre
City: Zhaoyuan
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Electric shock, forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, extortion, detention

At around 8:00 p.m. on November 8th, three officers from the Zhaoyuan City Domestic Security Division broke into Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhong Zhaofen's home and took her to the Lingnan Brainwashing Centre. Ms. Zhong's family went to the brainwashing centre to request her release. Officer Song Shaochang said, “We were given a quota of four forced labour sentences from our superiors. Zhong is just in time to be one of them.” Song extorted 4,000 yuan¹ from Ms. Zhong's family, but Ms. Zhong has not been released.

Ms. Zhong Zhaofen, 50, lives in Cangkouchenjia Village, Zhangxing Town, Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province. She has benefited from practising Falun Gong both physically and mentally. On July 20th, 1999, the Chinese communist regime began the suppression of Falun Gong. In December 1999, Ms. Zhong went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong and was taken back to and held in the Songjia Town Police Station. The officers poured water on the ground and let it freeze. They then had Ms. Zhong sit on the patch of ice for one day. They released her after 15 days of detention and extorting 1,000 yuan from her.

On April 8th, 2000, Ms. Zhong was reported and arrested. She was held in the Songjia Police Station for 15 days and 540 yuan was extorted from her.

In June 2000, Ms. Zhong went to Beijing again and displayed a banner that read “Falun Gong is Great” at Tiananmen Square. She was taken back to her hometown. The officers beat her and shocked her with electric batons. She was covered with bruises. The detention centre held her for one month and extorted 300 yuan from her.

In January 2001, police officers broke into Ms. Zhong's home and arrested her because of the upcoming National Congress and Political Consultative Conference. She was detained for more than 40 days. Ms. Zhong later went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. Officers from the Zhaoyuan City Domestic Security Division seized her and beat her with rubber batons. She was black and blue all over. Seven days later, she was taken to the police station and detained for one month. They extorted 700 yuan from her this time.

On July 2nd, 2007, a group of officers broke into Ms. Zhong's home and arrested her while she was eating. She was held in the Lingnan Brainwashing Centre for more than 40 days. The officers extorted 1,000 yuan from her family, yet still sent Ms. Zhong to a forced labour camp to serve one and a half years of forced labour.

On September 2nd, 2011, Ms. Zhong was arrested by Wang Yungang and other officers from the Lutou Town Police Station while speaking with people about Falun Gong in Dafujia Market, Lutou Town, Longkou City. Many people witnessed the scene. One person said to the officers, “The Communist Party commits all kind of crimes. You don't care about robbery or theft, but here you are arresting people who practise Falun Gong? If all the party members practice Falun Gong, it won't be as corrupt as it is now.” Ms. Zhong's family went to the police station and requested her release. Ms. Zhong returned home at 6:00 p.m. that day.

On the evening of October 9th, Ms. Zhong was arrested again by officers from the Zhaoyuan City Domestic Security Division.

Ms. Zhong has been arrested eight times and harassed often in the past 12 years for following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She was held for more than 760 days and is still being held. She was extorted for a total of 7,500 yuan. However, what she has suffered physically and mentally is incalculable, not to mention the terror and pain it has brought to her family.

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/2011/11/12/249129.html