(Minghui.org) When 67-year-old Ms. Zhong Junfang was released on February 14, 2020, after serving an 8.5-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, she was no longer the healthy woman she once was. She had lost half of her body weight and become a double-cancer sufferer.
Because of upholding her faith that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999, Ms. Zhong, of Qianwei County, Sichuan Province, has suffered unimaginable persecution in the past 21 years. She was given one forced labor term and sentenced to prison three times, for a total of 17.5 years.
Ms. Zhong’s latest arrest was on August 10, 2011. She had sold her apartment not long ago, and the police confiscated the more 100,000 yuan of the sales proceeds, which were never returned to her.
She was sentenced to 8.5 years on April 22, 2012. At Chengdu Women’s Prison, the inmates were instigated by the guards to beat her, put unknown drugs in her food, and take away her comforter in the winter to freeze her. She was also force-fed when she held a hunger strike to protest the persecution.
As a result of the torture, Ms. Zhong developed hypertension and had a chronic nosebleed. Yet the prison authorities refused to release her on medical parole, saying that “She’s still breathing, so we can’t just release her.”
By the time Ms. Zhong's latest term expired, she had lost about half of her body weight, weighing less than 70 lbs. All of her hair had turned gray. She was also diagnosed with liver cancer and breast cancer.
Having sold her apartment before her latest arrest, Ms. Zhong moved in with her niece after she was released from prison.
To seek justice and compensation for the persecution she had suffered, she visited many government agencies, only to find that her original 3,000 yuan monthly pension payment has been reduced to 600 yuan.
After her niece later sold her house, Ms. Zhong has to rent a place to live by herself. The local police continued to monitor her and ordered her to not leave the region.
Related reports:
Woman Very Ill from Hunger Strike After Six Years of Incarceration
Ms. Zhong Junfang Sentenced to Over 17 Years for Her Belief
Three Practitioners from Jianwei County, Leshan City Sentenced to Long Prison Terms
Ms. Zhong Junfang, Mr. Yu Faquan and Others Arrested in Jianwei County, Sichuan Province
