Zhang Shujun

Chinese Name: 张淑君
Gender: Female
Age: 47
City: Nanchang City
Province: Jiangxi
Occupation:
Date of Death: 2008-01-20
Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2006-03-28
Most recent place of detention: Jiangxi Province Women's Prison
Case Description:
Ms. Zhang Shujun, 47, lived in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province. After 4 p.m. on March 28, 2006, Ms. Zhang Shujun was arrested. On the afternoon of March 29, she was taken to the Daishan 510 Hotel in the Qingyunpu area and tortured for two days. Ms. Zhang Shujun was handcuffed and hung onto a security grid. Her heels could not touch the ground and her body could not remain straight (the grid and window wall were separated by only about a foot). Under orders from the chief and deputy chief of the Daishan Police Station, director Zhang Jun from the Qingyunpu Police Department and policeman Deng Xiangyang, two officers each held one of Ms. Zhang Shujun's legs and pulled them apart while violently pushing, pulling and shaking her. Ms. Zhang's lower back was badly scraped and bruised. She was repeatedly tortured for six hours. During the torture, Ms. Zhang Shujun was not allowed to close her eyes. As soon as she closed her eyes, the officers rained blows down on her. Policeman Deng Xiangyang also smashed Zhang Shujun's toes with table legs, causing them to be badly injured. The Qingyunpu District Court in Nanchang City sentenced Ms. Zhang to ten years in prison. She was imprisoned at the Jiangxi Province Women's Prison located in Xinjian County, Nanchang City. She endured numerous brutal tortures while she was incarcerated, and her family were not allowed to visit her. On January 4, 2008, Ms. Zhang was paralyzed and in critical condition. Guards called her family and instructed them to pick her up from the Changzheng Hospital. She was thus "bailed out for medical treatment" on the verge of death. Only 16 days later, Ms. Zhang died in her home at around 3 a.m. on January 20, 2008.