(Minghui.org)
Name: Chen ZhilianChinese Name: 陈志连Gender: FemaleAge: 79City: LeshanProvince: SichuanOccupation: N/ADate of Death: March 2, 2025Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 8, 2018Most Recent Place of Detention: Sichuan Province Women’s Prison
A Leshan City, Sichuan Province, resident had a skull fracture and multiple injuries on her head, after being brutally tortured during her 3.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong. She struggled to recover after being released in late 2021 and yet the police still harassed her on a regular basis. She passed away on March 2, 2025. She was 79.
Ms. Chen Zhilian, a rural woman, took up Falun Gong in February 1998 when she struggled with poor health and an unhappy marriage. She credited the practice for quickly improving her health and giving her hope in life. After the communist regime launched the persecution a year later, she did the Falun Gong exercises at a public plaza in protest and also went to Beijing twice to speak out. She was arrested and detained from one month to half a year each time. The local government officials beat her and paraded her on the street to humiliate her in 2001. The authorities also confiscated 7,800 yuan cash from her.
Unable to endure the harassment anymore, Ms. Chen moved to Renshou County in the same province, about 80 miles away. She was arrested again in March 2003 for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was severely tortured at the Renshou County Detention Center. The Renshou County Court later sentenced her to six years in prison. While serving time at the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison in the capital city of Chengdu, she wasn’t allowed to wash herself or buy daily necessities, especially toilet paper. The guards once stripped her to her underwear because she refused to wear the inmates’ uniform.
Ms. Chen was arrested another time in May 2010 while working in the field.
Her next arrest was on November 10, 2015, for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution. She was taken to the Shizhushan Detention Center in the evening. The guards drew her blood without providing a reason. An inmate slapped her in the face twice because she didn’t do the roll call. She was released 37 days later.
Ms. Chen went to the Jiuli Town in the nearby Emeishan City on June 8, 2018 for a community fair. Officers from the Jiuli Town Police Station arrested her upon finding two copies of Falun Gong materials on her person. She was tried by the Emeishan City Court on January 22, 2019 and sentenced to 3.5 years with a 10,000-yuan fine on September 25. She was transferred to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison in early 2020.
Ms. Chen suffered a skull fracture and multiple injuries on her head, as well as a severe intracranial hemorrhage after being beaten by the prison guards. She was in critical condition and was taken to the hospital for resuscitation. After she was released at the end of 2021, she had tremendous difficulty moving around and relied on her family for care. She also had hallucinations and was often in a confused state. Her family suspected that she was given toxic drugs while in the prison. Yet officers of the Linjiang Police Station continued to harass her from time to time, asking the incapacitated woman whether she was still practicing Falun Gong.
She passed away on March 2, 2025.
Related Report:
Imprisoned Woman, 70, in Critical Condition After Being Beaten By Guards
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