(Minghui.org) A 65-year-old woman has been detained for three weeks for her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhang Juying from Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, was arrested on January 30, 2020, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She has been held in the Sanjiang Women’s Detention Center ever since.
Ms. Zhang, who is retired from a local power company, used to suffer many ailments, including a heart problem, Meniere's disease, and a duodenal ulcer. She took up Falun Gong in 1993 and her health soon recovered.
After the communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Zhang was repeatedly targeted for holding fast to her faith. She was held in a brainwashing center twice for more than seven months and sent to forced labor camps twice for a total of five and a half years.
Force-feedings
In the labor camp, Ms. Zhang was force-fed after she held a hunger strike to protest the persecution.
She recalled, “They took me to the clinic, where two men held my head and several more held my shoulders, arms, hands, legs, and feet. I couldn’t move. They inserted the feeding tube into my nose and down into my stomach.
“At first, they force-fed me once a week, then once or twice a day. They kept the tube inserted and taped it to my face. After a few days, my face was swollen and my nose hurt terribly.
“After a month of this, I became so weak that they couldn’t do it anymore. Then they tried to put an IV in me but, due to my condition, that failed, too.”
Solitary Confinement
Because she did the Falun Gong exercises in the labor camp, Ms. Zhang was held in solitary confinement three times – each time for a month.
The only thing in the cell was a toilet. White fungus grew on the walls and it stank and was filthy. There were mosquitoes in the summer. It had no window, just three holes in the wall for air circulation and two openings in the door, one for surveillance and the other for food delivery.
Guards took turns monitoring her around the clock. When they saw her doing the Falun Gong exercises inside, they tied her up so that she was unable to sit or lie down.
Sent to Brainwashing Center Despite Injuries
Ms. Zhang was arrested again on April 21, 2014. When the police dragged her to their car, they used so much force that one of her ribs was injured and her chest hit the car seat. Even though she couldn’t walk due to her injuries, the police still took her to a brainwashing center and held her there for three months.
