Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Zhao Baolan Was Tortured to Death by Guards at the Hekou District Detention Center in Shandong Province

(Clearwisdom.net)

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhao Baolan, 61 years old, from Dongying City, Shandong Province went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. She was reported and arrested, and was taken to the Hekou District Detention Center, Dongying City. During her detention, she suffered from brutal torture. When she was finally released, her eyes were seeping pus and her mind wasn't clear. She died on November 28, 2000.

Zhao Baolan was a family member of a worker at the Shengli Petroleum Exploration Field. She lived at the Family Dormitory of the 8^th Branch of the General Repair Workshop. On October 1, 2000, Ms. Zhao, together with her son Xie Hui, her daughter-in-law Wang Junmei (who has since renounced her belief under the intense pressure of torture and brainwashing) and her grandson, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. Because the Appeals Office had been closed, they went to Tiananmen Square. Her son and her daughter-in-law were arrested on Tiananmen Square. At that time, there was nobody else to take care of Ms. Zhao's grandson. The next day, Ms. Zhao took her grandson and returned to Dongying City. More than ten days later, she was reported to the authorities. Because Zhao Baolan had gone to Beijing before during the Spring Festival of 2000 and was released by the 610 Office [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems] after being fined, she had become a prime target of persecution during so-called "sensitive times" [around major holidays when the authorities were afraid Dafa practitioners would go to Beijing]. After an illegal detention, she was transferred directly to the Hekou District Detention Center, Dongying City. At that time, her friends and family did not know where she was detained. When some of her relatives sent clothes to her, the guards of the detention center told them that there was no such person there. She was detained for over a month before being released. At the time of her release, her whole body was swollen -- especially her legs, which were swollen so badly that she could not walk. In addition, her eyes were seeping pus and she had almost lost her eyesight. Her physical condition was very grave, and her mind wasn't clear. In just one month, a healthy senior citizen who had benefited from practicing Falun Gong was tortured to such a perilous condition.

At that time, Zhao Baolan could not take care of herself. However, the Petroleum Exploration Field "610 Office" still did not leave her alone, and made the staff of the brainwashing class watch over her at her home. Her husband was so traumatized by these events that he became ill and had to be hospitalized. Her son was still detained in the brainwashing class. Her daughter-in-law, Wang Junmei, had been sentenced to three years of forced labor and sent to the Wangcun Labor Camp [another notorious forced labor camp in Shandong province]. A kind-hearted neighbor took care of Ms. Zhao's grandson. There was nobody at home to take care of Ms. Zhao. She had to rely on some practitioners who brought her food when the prison guards were away at dinner.

Two days before Ms. Zhao passed away, she told the practitioners who came to see her, " In the Hekou Detention Center, the police officers used a variety of methods to torture Falun Dafa practitioners. The police forced practitioners to read newspapers and books slandering Dafa. If there was one practitioner who refused to do so, all the practitioners in the room would be tortured." In November, the weather was very cold. Even though Ms. Zhao only had her summer clothes on, the guard turned away the relatives who brought her some winter clothes.

Ms. Zhao died wrongfully on November 28, 2000. At that time, the thugs in the 610 Office permitted her illegally-detained son, Xie Hui, to take care of her funeral arrangements.

2003-4-18

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