(Minghui.org) A woman in the Tongnan District of Chongqing completed a 22-month prison term on June 6, 2025, for her faith in Falun Gong.
The imprisonment of Ms. Zhang Hua, born in 1962, stemmed from her arrest on August 7, 2023, by captain Sun Haitao (also known as Sun Botao) from the Tongnan District Domestic Security Office and five of his subordinates. They interrogated her overnight before taking her to the Hechuan District Detention Center.
Around August 2023, captain Sun and three other agents took Ms. Zhang back to the domestic security office for interrogation. They handcuffed and shackled her, with the handcuffs and shackles linked so that she had to bend over. The shackles were very heavy, and it was very difficult for her to walk.
Ms. Zhang, a former employee of the Tongnan County Agricultural Machinery Company, refused to answer any questions.
The police the drove her to four locations in the Tongnan District to fabricate evidence that she’d talked to people about Falun Gong at each place. When she refused to get out of their cruiser, they carried her out and took pictures of her at each location.
Using the fabricated evidence, the police got Ms. Zhang sentenced to one year and ten months. She was admitted to to the Chongqing Women’s Prison in August 2024. She previously served seven years of a prior 10-year term in the same prison.
Like her first prison term, Ms. Zhang was again subjected to various forms of abuse this time around. She was initially assigned to cell four. Head inmate Liu Yingxia forced her to sit still in front of a wall. If she moved at all, it had to be reported to Liu. Certain things even required permissions from the guards. Ms. Zhang could not drink water, use the restroom, or scratch her back without permission.
Once she scratched her back without seeking permission first, and Liu reprimanded her. Another time, she changed her shoes without talking to Liu first. Liu forced her to write out the prison rules. Liu also made it harder for Ms. Zhang to use the restroom. She had to first get permission from another designated inmate. After receiving permission, she had to report to the guard on duty through the surveillance camera. If she defied this “chain of command,” she would have to write out the prison rules, attend study sessions, or be deprived of sleep. She was also forced to “express opinions” about certain things, but only in the way Liu approved of. Expressing a different opinion would again incur punishment.
If Ms. Zhang was ever allowed to leave the cell for any reason, she had to be accompanied by three inmates. She also had to turn around when anyone walked toward her, because she was not allowed to make eye contact with anyone.
When Ms. Zhang held firm to her faith, the guards revoked her family visits and did not let them deposit money into her commissary account. When they finally managed to deposit money, she had to seek permission from the guards before she could use the funds to purchase daily necessities.
The inmates were given four rolls of paper towels every now and then, but Ms. Zhang was given far fewer. Her four rolls lasted 92 days.
The prison allowed inmates to borrow clothes if they didn’t have any. Since the guards prohibited Ms. Zhang’s family from sending in clothes, she didn’t have warm winter clothes. She asked to borrow clothes three times, but was turned down each time. Liu claimed there were no extra clothes when she forced Ms. Zhang to clean some winter clothes to be lent to those who had none.
The guards moved Ms. Zhang to cell seven around April 2025. Inmate Zhong Chan forced her to watch and read materials slandering Falun Gong. The normal bedtime was 10 p.m., but Ms. Zhang was often made to stay up because she did not finish studying the slanderous materials. The lack of sleep plus the mental strain made her blood pressure shoot up.
Zhong did not let Ms. Zhang use the restroom for long periods of time. She wet and soiled her pants more than once but was not allowed to change clothes. Zhong bragged, “I’m not afraid of you reporting me. The guards know everything I do to you!”
Zhong once denied Ms. Zhang use of the restroom for two days in a row. She soiled her pants the day before and again the next day, the day guard Wang Yiying had scheduled a brainwashing session. Ms. Zhang had to attend the session in her smelly pants. Wang kept Ms. Zhang in the session for up to three hours before allowing her to return to her cell to change clothes.
A few days later, Zhong ordered Ms. Zhang to transcribe a statement promising to not practice Falun Gong anymore. She refused to comply and was denied restroom use again. Zhong still forced her to finish her three meals. Her belly was bloated and she felt extremely uncomfortable. Zhong eventually allowed her to use the restroom nearly 20 hours later.
Ms. Zhang was released on June 6, 2025.
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Chongqing: Practitioner Ms. Zhang Hua Tortured at the Tongnan County Detention Center