(Minghui.org) On August 20, 2012, Ms. Zhang Mingfeng and Ms. Zhang Guizhi, both from Tangshan City in Hebei Province and in their 60s, were sentenced to three and four year prison terms, respectively. They are now in Shijiazhuang Women's Prison. After 404 people put their fingerprints on a petition to rescue them, another 1,485 added their signatures, for a total of 1,889 supporters.

404 people gave their fingerprints in support of Zhang Guizhi and Zhang Mingfeng

Another 1,485 signed the petition calling for the release of two good people

During the past two years in Tangshan, government officials have taken part in the persecution of Falun Gong for personal gain. At the same time, Tangshan has become one of the districts with the largest number of instances of people supporting Falun Gong, a reflection of public resentment of the irrational persecution of practitioners by the Tangshan political and legal system.

Signing Petitions to Help Detained Falun Gong Practitioners

When many people in the Tangshan District learned that two elderly ladies had been sentenced for their belief in Falun Gong, they participated in an appeal to show their support for the release of these good citizens. They also expressed their anger over the brutal acts of the communist regime and commended Falun Gong practitioners. Those who knew the two imprisoned practitioners said, “Dafa is good. We all know Zhang Mingfeng very well. She is such a good person, always happy to assist others. You cannot find such a good person these days. We support justice and Ms. Zhang. We want to ensure that she is released.”

Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Guizhi, 68

Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Mingfeng, 60

One of those who signed the petition said, “If everyone conducted themselves according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance like Falun Gong practitioners, then there will be order in society. It is shameful that good people are arrested, truly terrible.” Another said, “If this will secure the release of these two kindhearted people, then I would like to sign the petition. It is a good deed. We support Dafa disciples.” Some who had signed earlier asked if the practitioners had been released yet.

At many markets in the Tangshan District, after learning about the situation, someone exclaimed angrily, “These communist officials are completely lawless. It is difficult to be a good person in society; ordinary citizens have no power. We support Falun Gong. Falun Dafa is good. Dafa disciples are good people. We want to help.”

It was the head of Fengrun District Court in Tangshan City, Xu Tianpeng, who sentenced the two practitioners to prison. After the communist regime launched its persecution campaign against Falun Gong, Xu Tianpeng has abused the law, unjustly sentencing as many as a dozen practitioners, severely harming innocent people and their families.

Background

Ms. Zhang Mingfeng is from Shawuzhuang Village in Laozhuangzi Town, the Fengrun District, Tangshan. She started to practice Falun Gong in 1998. Before that, she suffered from severe arthritis, heart flutters, and weak nerves and had difficulty doing household chores. After practicing Falun Dafa, her health improved tremendously, and her illnesses vanished one by one. She also began to help other people out of her own initiative.

Zhang Mingfeng conducted herself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and is considerate of others. She sent food to older people in the village who had no family. She often collected water for them even on days when there was a heavy downpour. She also helped fellow villagers dig up potatoes and mow their lawns using her own equipment. Even people who live outside the village know that she is a kindhearted person and therefore often seek her help in digging up potatoes. Everyone in the village said that she not only regained her health after practicing Dafa, she came to love to help others.

Ms. Zhang Guizhi is a retired teacher from Nanwangzhuang Village in Laozhuangzi Town, the Fengrun District, Tangshan City. Before practicing Falun Gong, she had heart disease. After she started to practice in 1998, she benefited both physically and mentally. After the communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, she did not give up her belief and was consequently persecuted several times. On May 25, 2001, Party officials from the village ordered practitioners to put their fingerprints on documents certifying that they gave up the practice of Falun Gong and told them to curse the founder of Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang refused to comply and was arrested by officers from Laozhuangzi Police Station. She was taken to the Fengrun Detention Center, where she was beaten, hung up, force-fed, and shocked with electric batons. While being force-fed, her two front teeth were knocked out. When she was hung up and beaten, she was not allowed to go to the toilet. The head of the cultural education bureau brought Zhang Guizhi's family to the detention center, hoping that they would pressure her into giving up Falun Gong and writing a guarantee statement. She refused to do it. The head of the cultural education bureau gave orders to beat her. Guards from Fengrun Detention Center dragged her by the hair and threw her a long distance. Her daughter cried, heartbroken to see her mother tortured. After her family left, guards hit her ankle with a club. Zhang Guizhi, who was 57 at that time, was tortured like for three days and, as a result, she became incontinent. Her whole body was covered in bruises.

In the autumn of 2001, Ms. Zhang Guizhi was sentenced to three years of forced labor and taken to Kaiping Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan. She could not walk as a result of the torture that she was subjected to in the labor camp. Afraid of being held responsible for her injuries, camp officials told her family to take her home. Upon returning home, she could not take care of herself and had to rely on her family. Afterwards, she slowly recovered through practicing Falun Gong. She told fellow villagers how she benefited from learning Dafa and about the persecution that she had endured.

On April 4, 2012, Ms. Zhang Mingfeng and Ms. Zhang Guizhi met Zheng Baogang, a plainclothes officer from Fengdengwu Town police station as they were walking past Fengdengwu Town in the Fengrun District. Zheng Baogang asked them for a Shen Yun Performing Arts DVD and they gave him one. While engaged in a conversation, a police vehicle drove past and several officers got out, dragged them into the car, and brought them back to the police station. They were then taken to Fengrun Detention Center.