(Minghui.org) It was recently confirmed that a 68-year-old woman in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province had actually been sentenced to seven years, not four years as previously reported, for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhang Shuping’s sentencing stemmed from her arrest on November 26, 2020. The police soon released her on bail but secretly installed a location tracking device on her car. She didn’t find out about it until months later. The police harassed her twice on January 15, 2021, and arrested her at a highway exit in March 2021. It was previously reported that she was sentenced to four years in late July 2021 and transferred from the Liaocheng City Detention Center to the Shandong Province Women’s Prison about three months later.
As the Dong’e County Court never informed Ms. Zhang’s family of her trial or sentencing, they didn’t confirm her actual prison sentence until recently. They also verified that she is indeed serving time at the Shandong Province Women’s Prison. They are calling on people who knew about her trial and/or imprisonment to provide more information.
Ms. Zhang took up Falun Gong on March 27, 1998, and was repeatedly targeted for her faith after the persecution began in July 1999. She was previously given forced labor three times and brutally tortured each time.
21 Months of Forced Labor (2002-2003)
Ms. Zhang was arrested one June day in 2002 for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. She was taken to the local detention center the next day. About one week later, she was taken to the Dongchangfu District Police Department and interrogated with torture.
The police handcuffed one of her arms and hung her up by the handcuff to a tall, vertical heating pipe, all the while keeping her feet shackled. To prevent her from becoming disabled, the police alternated in cuffing her left and right arms. She was cuffed like that for eight straight days. Despite the torture, she refused to answer the police’s questions. After she was finally let down, she could no longer lift her arms or squat down to use the restroom. Her feet and legs were extremely swollen and spotted large areas of blood spots under the skin.
Ms. Zhang was given one and a half years of forced labor in July 2002 and taken to the Shandong Province First Women’s Labor Camp. For four months in a row, she was only allowed two hours of sleep every night and forced to watch videos slandering Falun Gong the rest of the day. The labor camp guards also forced her to sit on a small stool for extended periods of time. She held firm to her faith and had her term extended by three months.
One Year of Forced Labor (2006-2007)
In June 2006, Ms. Zhang was arrested again and given one year of forced labor. She was taken to the Shandong Province First Women’s Labor Camp on July 14, 2006. The guards there again subjected her to various forms of abuse. They didn’t allow her to use the restroom so she refused to eat or drink. The guards then allowed her one restroom break every day, after midnight. Ms. Zhang began to eat a bit but still refrained from drinking any water so she didn’t have to use the restroom.
As Ms. Zhang still refused to renounce Falun Gong after a few days of the aforementioned abuse, the guards resorted to other tactics. For over 40 days, they didn’t let her shower or even wash her face. They also forced her to stand under the scorching sun for several days before putting her in a room with the air conditioning turned as low as it would go.
In late August 2006, guard Wang Yueyao grabbed Ms. Zhang and pushed her down. She shouted, “The guard is beating people!” Wang gagged her with a dirty rag. Several others held her head, legs, and arms, while Wang pinched the skin between her ribs and rubbed it back and forth. Ms. Zhang’s skin and flesh broke in several places.
1.5-Year of Forced Labor (2009-2010)
Ms. Zhang was arrested in mid-October 2009 and taken to the Shandong Province First Women Labor Camp one month later. She served about one and a half years there.
The Beiyangji Police Station officers arrested Ms. Zhang on December 3, 2012, and took her to the Liaocheng City Detention Center, where she was held for about 27 days.
Related report:
Liaocheng City, Shandong Province: 11 Falun Gong Practitioners Sentenced in Recent Months
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