Retired Professor Persecuted for Three Years under “Strict Management” in Wuling Prison

Name: Tang Zhaomei
Gender: Male
Age: 78
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Retired professor from Xiangtan University
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 30th, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Wuling Prison
City: Xiangtan
Province: Hunan
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, home ransacked, detention

Mr. Tang Zhaomei, 78, is a retired professor from Xiangtan University. He has published more than 100 academic dissertations in national magazines and journals. He has published more than 20 books and has had many achievements in scientific research. However, due to practising Falun Gong, he was detained, monitored and his home was ransacked. He was imprisoned for three years.

In June 2000, Mr. Tang was detained for a month for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong.

In February 2001, he was taken to the Qilipu Detention Centre for practising Falun Gong.

In September 2001, he was held at the Sanjiaoping Detention Centre for a month.

On December 2nd, 2007, Mr. Tang was arrested for distributing materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in the dormitories of Xiangtan University. He was later monitored for six months.

On April 30th, 2008, Mr. Tang and his wife were arrested by officers from the Yuhu Police Sub-bureau on the way to his son's home. They were later taken to the Xiangtan Detention Centre. Mr. Tang was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and had been held in Wuling Prison. His wife was sentenced to three years in prison and had been held in Changsha Women's Prison.

Mr. Tang was held under “strict management” in Wuling Prison for 32 months. The prison authorities assigned ten inmates to monitor him day and night. Inmate Liu Guang said, “You are almost 80 years old and were a professor. Otherwise, I'd knock you to the ground with one punch.” He extorted more than 1,000 yuan¹ from Mr. Tang. Inmate Tang Houbin told Mr. Tang to check with him each time Mr. Tang needed to use the toilet. Inmate Shen Hui told Mr. Tang to get his approval each time Mr. Tang wanted to write anything. The inmates swore at Falun Gong and practitioners in order to please the guards. They also deceived Mr. Tang and took all his money away. Mr. Tang wasn't allowed to get near anyone else.

There was only one dish during every meal and it was either turnips or cabbages. The inmates needed to pay extra to purchase more food. Mr. Tang could not buy anything without money.

After the long term incarceration, Mr. Tang became weak. He couldn't keep his balance and wobbled as he walked. He fell down several times when climbing up and down the stairs. He fell down in the washroom and the toilet. His high blood pressure reached 210 mmHg.

In the winter, the guards and the inmates who monitored Mr. Tang could warm themselves at the fire, but Mr. Tang wasn't allowed to do that. He wasn't allowed to be in the warm sunshine. He felt cold all the time and kept coughing the whole winter.

Mr. Tang had conversations with more than a dozen guards, and nobody thought of Falun Gong practitioners as criminals. However, he was still mistreated in prison.

Mr. Tang wrote more than 20 letters in prison, but most of them were withheld by the prison. Instructor Chen Keming and inmate Liu Guang took away Mr. Tang's paper and pens three times. Mr. Tang was a history professor. While in prison, he hand-wrote several books. Instructor Lu Huayong didn't let him take those away when Mr. Tang was released.

Mr. Tang and his wife did not get their pension during those three years. It was nearly 300,000 yuan in total. Mr. Tang is worse off because of that. He needs money to buy new clothes and blankets since his old ones were left in prison.

The 610 Office branch at Xiangtan University worked with the police to follow, monitor, and arrest many employees who practise Falun Gong. They cut their monthly income, ordered them to write guarantee statements to renounce practising Falun Gong, and deprived them of bonuses and compensation.

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/2011/11/26/249794.html