AP: Falun Gong Says More Followers Die (excerpt)

Friday, April 13, 2001 BEIJING (AP)-- Three more followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement--detained during a crackdown by Chinese officials--have died, the group said Friday, bringing the number of reported deaths to 115. (Actual number is 188 - Editor). Local officials confirmed two of the deaths Friday but denied they were due to mistreatment while in the hands of police. Wang Xiujun, 37, died on Feb. 13 in eastern China's Shandong province after five months of detention and ''prolonged torture,'' the group's U.S. followers said in a written statement. She was held at a home for the elderly where the government rents rooms to hold Falun Gong members. An employee at the home denied that Wang was beaten or tortured. [...] Another Falun Gong follower, Sun Hongyan of Liaozhong county in the northeast was tortured for six months and died four days after she was released, the group said. [...] Other officials in Liaozhong declined to comment. A third Falun Gong member, Zhang Zigen of Zhangjiakou city, died in police custody on Feb. 25, the group said. [...] .

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