(Minghui.org) Two Dandong City, Liaoning Province residents were arrested on September 10, 2021 for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhang Shuxia, 67, and Ms. Sun were arrested by officers of the Bianfang Police Station, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Both of their homes were ransacked.

This isn’t the first time that Ms. Zhang has been targeted for practicing Falun Gong, which she credits for curing her headache, rheumatism and uterine fibroids.

Ms. Zhang was previously arrested on March 30, 2009 and later sentenced to seven years in the Liaoning Women’s Prison. On September 15, 2009, the first evening she was taken the prison, Zuo Xiaoyan, the head of the eighth ward, said to guard Li Zhe, “This is how to handle her. [If she doesn’t cooperate with you,] you can just serve her with electric batons or rubber sticks.”

In order to force Ms. Zhang to renounce Falun Gong, the guards denied her of sleep and restroom use. She wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. During the day, she was handcuffed to the heating pipes. In the evening, the guards covered the window, forced her to stand in a basin full of water, and tucked her shirt into her pants. Then they poured a basin of cold water over her head and the water would accumulate around her abdomen. They kept her standing in the water for hours, causing her feet to swell and her legs unable to bend. 

On a hot summer day, Wang Ruihua, the political instructor, threatened to put Ms. Zhang in a freezer. On another occasion, Wang ordered inmate Gao Feng to drag Ms. Zhang into the restroom and kicked her in the private part and abdomen. Gao also beat her with a broom and stomped on her hands. When she became tired from the beating, she took a break and continued shortly after.

Ms. Zhang once refused to do the unpaid labor work and shouted “Falun Dafa is good!” in protest. Then the guards taped her head, stuffed her mouth, and forced her to sit on a small stool with uneven surface. 

When she held a hunger strike in protest, they tied her up in a spread eagle position and force-fed her. In the winter, she was held in solitary confinement and given only a thin comforter without any bedding. 

During her seven-year imprisonment, Ms. Zhang endured non-stop physical torture and verbal abuse. Even a few years after she was released, the scar on her jaw remained visible.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Ma Yongqing (马永清), head of Bianfang Police Station: +86-415-4166200, +86-13941527551Li Bowei (李博伟), police officer: +86-415-4166200, +86-13841565599Yu Jiang (于江), head of Dandong City Police Department: +86-415-2103113

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)