Liaoning Woman Secretly Sentenced to Prison

(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old Benxi City, Liaoning Province resident was suddenly notified on August 6, 2021, by a police officer that the Nanfen District Court had sentenced her to prison and given her ten days to appeal the verdict.

It’s not clear how long the prison sentence is and whether Ms. Zhang Guijun has filed an appeal.

Ms. Zhang was targeted for her faith in Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline. Since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Zhang has been arrested at least 15 times. She served two forced labor terms totaling four years and was subjected to various forms of torture and constant brainwashing for refusing to renounce her faith.

Ms. Zhang was previously arrested in July 2017 for talking to people about Falun Gong on the street. Wang Chenggang, the head of the local Domestic Security Office, deceived her into believing that his sister was sick and interested in learning Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang agreed to come back on the next day to teach his sister the Falun Gong exercises, only to be arrested and taken to the hospital for a physical examination. As she was found to have several conditions, the police had to take her home.

A month later, on August 30, she was arrested again on the street and directly taken to the Hengren County Court, where the judge sentenced her to three years. As she failed the required medical examination for prison admission, she was released on medical parole.

Zhu Fuchen, the judge that sentenced Ms. Zhang, and a few police officers stopped Ms. Zhang on the street at around 7 a.m. on September 26, 2019, and took her to the hospital for a physical examination. Ms. Zhang protested and argued that she didn’t do anything wrong in practicing Falun Gong. The police replied that it was an order from above and they had no choice but to follow it.

At the hospital, Ms. Zhang went through a head CT, electrocardiogram, blood pressure and examination of her eyes and calves. As she was found to have high blood pressure, the judge ordered the police to take her to another hospital to go through the exact same examination again.

After the examination, Ms. Zhang was taken to the Hengren County Police Station and ordered to sign a form. She refused to comply and was released at 5 p.m.

Ms. Zhang’s family suspects that her brief detention in 2019 and her latest prison term might be related to her sentencing in 2017 and that the authorities might be attempting to force her to serve her term despite her health condition.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Wang Chenggang (王成刚), head of Domestic Security Office: [phone], [phone]Wang Qi (王奇), deputy head of Domestic Security Office: [phone]Zhu Fuchen (朱福忱), judge of Hengren County Court: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related report:

Elderly Woman Arrested 15 Times in 20 Years for Practicing Falun Gong