Kindergarten Teacher Describes Her Ordeals in Fujian Women's Prison

(Minghui.org) Ms. Zuo Xiuyun, a 56-year-old retired kindergarten teacher, was last arrested on December 28, 2015, for practicing Falun Gong. She is now being held in the Yong'an City Detention Center.

Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Zuo was sentenced three times and has spent a total of 12.5 years in prison for refusing to give up her belief in Falun Gong. She was sentenced to prison for 3 years in 2000 and for 6 years in 2004. The following is her personal account of her third arrest in 2011 and her incarceration in Fujian Provincial Women's Prison.

Arrested in Retaliation for Seeking Justice

My brother Zuo Fusheng was illegally arrested on January 19, 2011, for practicing Falun Gong. He was sentenced to 6 years and sent to Fuqing Prison, where he was viciously beaten and lost sight in one eye. In an effort to try to secure his release, I filed a lawsuit against State Security officials for knowingly violating the law.

After filing the lawsuit, I noticed the police following me twice, but I was able to escape--until the afternoon of December 16, 2011. I had gone out to get food for my mother and found myself suddenly surrounded by several police officers. They forced me into a police vehicle and took me to Fuzhou City No. 1 Detention Center.

Hunger Strikes

I went on a hunger strike in the detention center and was taken to Jianxi Hospital (an armed police hospital in Fuzhou). I was restrained in the bed by my ankles and wrists. At first I was given intravenous injections, but was later force-fed via a tube inserted through my nose and into my stomach for two months.

I was taken back to Fujian Women's Prison in January 2013, but was immediately returned to Jianxin Hospital, because they thought I had tuberculosis. The hospital staff insisted on giving me drugs even though I repeatedly tested negative for TB.

I went on a hunger strike to protest and was force-fed twice a day for seven months. Each time it took two or three people: one to hold my head down, one to sit on me, and another to hold my hands. I was given multiple CT scans, held down each time by at least five and sometimes a dozen people.

Abuse in Fujian Women's Prison

When I was returned to the prison in August 2013, I was assigned to a special ward where I had to ask for permission to do anything, including using the restroom, washing, or taking a shower. In fact, I could only use the restroom if the three other inmates assigned to me went with me. I was only allowed to talk to these inmates.

During the day in the workshop, I had to stay in one spot and was not allowed to move around. Leaving the workshop at the end of the day, we were subjected to random strip searches.

Prison officials put me in a brainwashing "class" for two months starting in May 2014. I was forced to watch videos that defamed Falun Gong and to write what I thought about them. I was verbally abused when I refused to denounce Falun Gong.

After the brainwashing experience, two more inmates were assigned to monitor me, in addition to the original three. They slept in beds next to mine and kept written records of everything I did. They tried to isolate me by keeping other inmates from talking to me.

My mother tried to visit me in the brainwashing class. Not only was she not allowed to see me, but she was taken to a police station and detained for a day. She tried to send money to me, but prison officials returned it without letting me know about it. My mother passed away two months before I was released from prison. My brother is still incarcerated in Fuqing Prison.

Parties Involved in the Persecution of Ms. Zuo:

Chen Weiming, director of the 610 Office in Fuzhou City: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Home)Zhang Chi, secretary of the 610 Office in Fuzhou City: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Home)Cai Wenjian, judge, Cangshan District Court: [phone] (Cell)Liang Qinrong, judge, Intermediate Court of Fuzhou City: [phone] (Cell), [phone] (Office)

Related Articles:

After Years of Imprisonment, Two Former Kindergarten Teachers Arrested Again for Their BeliefMr. Zuo Fusheng and His Sister, Ms. Zuo Xiuyun, ImprisonedKindergarten Teacher Ms. Zuo Xiuyun in Critical Condition After Retaliation for Her Efforts to Seek Justice