Name: Zeng Zhaoqin (曾昭秦)
Gender: Male
Age: 56
Address: Unknown
Occupation: Shop owner
Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 5, 2004
Most recent place of detention: Changsha Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp (长沙新开铺劳教所)
City: Leiyang
Province: Hunan
Persecution Suffered: Forced labor, sleep deprivation, beatings, imprisonment, torture, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention
(Clearwisdom.net) (Correspondent from Hunan) Mr. Zeng Zhaoqin began to practice Falun Gong in 1998. All of his health problems disappeared, including bronchitis and stomach problems, and he became a healthy person again.
On April 1, 2001, Mr. Zeng was arrested in his own shop for talking to people about Falun Gong by officers from the political security office of the Leiyang City Public Security Department. The officers took him to the public security department and interrogated him for several hours before sending him to the Leiyang City Detention Center. There, he was forced to do hard labor and was frequently beaten by the head inmate. In order to keep Mr. Zeng from being severely beaten, his family gave several hundred yuan to the head inmate each month. Mr. Zeng was released after being detained for 68 days and having 6,000 yuan extorted from his family.
On September 28, 2001, Mr. Zeng was arrested for practicing the Falun Gong exercises in Zhangfei Square in Leiyang City. Plainclothes officers took him to the public security department, where they interrogated him until midnight. Then he was taken to the detention center. Mr. Zeng was released after being detained for 75 days and having 3,000 yuan extorted from his family.
At approximately 5:00 a.m. on June 5, 2003, the Leiyang City public security officers broke into Mr. Zeng's home and took him by force to the public security department. Several hours later, he was transferred to an undisclosed hotel, where he was interrogated non-stop. The officers were trying to find out the source of Falun Gong materials. Three days later, he was taken to the detention center. After being detained for four months, Mr. Zeng was taken to the Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp to serve a one-year term.
On November 5, 2004, Mr. Zeng was once again arrested for distributing Falun Gong materials. He was arrested by officers from the Longtang Town Police Station and taken to the State Security Division of the Leiyang City Public Security Department. Later that day, he was transferred to the detention center. After being detained for 28 days, Mr. Zeng was sentenced to one year of forced labor in the Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp, where he was beaten, forced to stand for long periods of time, and denied use of a toilet. Mr. Zeng was tortured until he developed a mental disorder and was unable to care for himself.
