Hebei Woman Released from Prison After Serving a Secret Term for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) Only after Ms. Zhao Tiefeng was released from prison did her friends learn about the 18-month term she had served for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Zhao, 62, of Handan City, Hebei Province, was arrested on December 3, 2023, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. The arresting officers from the Yuxinnan Police Station held her in the Handan City Third Detention Center.

Ms. Zhao was later indicted by the Feixiang District Procuratorate and sentenced to 18 months with a 4,000-yuan fine by the Feixiang District Court. She served time in the Hebei Province Women’s Prison. Every day she was ordered to read propaganda materials slandering Falun Gong and write statements to renounce her faith. She was deprived of sleep and forced to stand for long hours when she refused to comply.

Ms. Zhao, who was retired from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, lives by herself and doesn’t have much contact with her family. She knows several local Falun Gong practitioners. After she was released, she shared her ordeal with her friends, who then managed to submit the information to Minghui.org.

Prior to her latest persecution, Ms. Zhao was arrested in late June 2002 and held in the Kaiyuan Police Station for three days. The police beat her and shocked her with electric batons, focusing on her chest, until she lost consciousness. After she came to, they gave her a cup of water, only to shock her again, rolling the electric batons on her back up and down. She felt as if her internal organs were exploding, and her limbs shook non-stop.

After three days of torture, Ms. Zhao was taken to the Handan City First Detention Center, where she had a mental breakdown due to the torture. Her limbs shook uncontrollably for over two months. The police also raided her home and seized all her valuables, including 30,000 yuan in school funds that her husband, a head teacher, was temporarily keeping at home.

Ms. Zhao was transferred to the Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp five months later to serve a one-year term. She was deprived of sleep and forced to wear shackles and work without pay. After that, she was held at a psychiatric hospital for a month.