(Minghui.org) While detained in 2001 for his faith in Falun Gong, a Chongqing resident was forced to eat more than 20 pain relief powder packets filled with glue.

Falun Gong is a spiritual practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and has been persecuted in China since 1999.

Mr. Zhang Jun was later given five years in prison and suffered even more abuse. Fearing retaliation by the authorities, his employer fired him and his older brother stopped talking to him. He was released from prison in 2005 to find that he had been denied full pension benefits.

The local police and officials also kept harassing Mr. Zhang after he returned home. He was arrested a few more times, with his latest arrest in August 2018.

Three Arrests in 16 Months

Mr. Zhang, 74, used to work at Chongqing Photoelectricity Instrument. After the persecution started in July 1999, he went to Beijing two months later to appeal for his right to freedom of belief in Falun Gong. The police arrested him but he later escaped.

Mr. Zhang was arrested and detained after he returned to Chongqing in October 1999. The guards in Xinhuajie Detention Center poured buckets of cold water on him every day in the winter. He was released 20 days later but the local police chief continued to harass him.

His third arrest took place in January 2001. He was put in a brainwashing center for 14 days and denied all visits. After he was released, the authorities had him pay for his “room and board” in the brainwashing center.

Forced to Eat Pain Relief Powder Packages

On February 23, 2001, the police arrested him for the fourth time. Inside the Xiema Police Station the officers handcuffed him to a window railing during the interrogation. They assaulted him and injured his eyes.

The next day he was transferred to Beibei Detention Center, where he was forced to do hard labor. Every day Mr. Zhang had to make countless individual small packets for pain relief powders. If the packet was defective, the guards made him fill them with glue and swallow them. The guards referred to the punishment as “eating dumplings.” He was forced to eat a total of two dozen of these “dumplings.” After he ate the packets, he would see the debris in his stool for days.

Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

A year later Mr. Zhang was sentenced to five years in prison and sent to Chongqing’s Yongchuan Prison in March 2003. That was when his employer fired him.

Four prisoners monitored Mr. Zhang around the clock and forced him to read books and watch videos that slandered Falun Gong. When he refused to renounce his faith, he was made to stand still for a long time, not allowed to sleep, and forced to do hard work. The abuse took a toll on his health. He developed hypertension, severe pain in his neck and spine, and a dislocated spinal disc.

Denied Full Pension Benefits

Mr. Zhang was already 61 when he was released from prison in October 2005. Having reached retirement age, he applied for pension benefits but was told that the contributions made to his retirement account by his former employer had been confiscated due to his imprisonment.

He had worked for 33 years prior to his imprisonment and was entitled to full pension benefits. Mr. Zhang warned the local security officer in charge of disbursing pension benefits that he reserved the right to file legal action. Only then did they agree to give him a very small portion of pension benefits that he was entitled to. To this day, his full pension benefits have not been reinstated.

Persecution Continues

The persecution didn’t stop there. The local authorities continued to harass him and his sisters and ransacked his home several times. His older brother, fearing government retaliation, has not talked to him for 16 years.

Police officers and 610 Office agents broke into Mr. Zhang’s house in October 2013. He was nearly 70 at the time. They restrained him while ransacking his home. They dragged him down the stairs and forced him into a police car. He was held and tortured in a brainwashing center in Changhe Village for 15 days.

Mr. Zhang filed a lawsuit in June 2015 against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution and causing him years of suffering and financial loss. In August 2017 local officials and police repeatedly harassed him because of the lawsuit. The police arrested him on August 9, 2017, after he refused to renounce Falun Gong. He was tortured in a brainwashing center for 28 days.

Mr. Zhang’s last known arrest took place on August 14, 2018. He was released the same day.