(Minghui.org)
Name: Zhong WeiqinChinese Name: 仲维芹Gender: FemaleAge: 69City: BenxiProvince: LiaoningOccupation: UnknownDate of Death: November 22, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 8, 2016Most Recent Place of Detention: Liaoning Province Women’s Prison
Ms. Zhong Weiqin had become incapacitated by the time she was released from prison on October 28, 2017. The Benxi City, Liaoning Province, resident never recovered and died on November 22, 2023. She was 69.
Ms. Zhong was sentenced to three years on November 20, 2014 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Due to her high blood pressure and other medical conditions, she was given one-year bail following her sentencing. Before she was fully recovered, the authorities admitted her to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on November 15, 2016. Her health kept declining in prison and she was released ahead of time on October 28, 2017, only to die six years later.
Arrested in 2014
Ms. Zhong’s sentencing stemmed from her arrest on May 5, 2014, after she was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials in Xihu District, Benxi City. Deputy chief Fu Xizhong of the Hexi Police Station led three officers and raided her home after arresting her. They confiscated her MP3 player, DVDs and other valuables. They threatened to throw her into jail for being a “repeat offender,” as she had already been detained for ten days in early January 2014, also for distributing Falun Gong informational materials.
Ms. Zhong was given 15 days of administrative detention before being put under criminal detention at the Benxi City Detention Center, where she was forced to stand for long hours and verbally abused.
Sentenced and Appeal Rejected
On June 25, 2014, Ms. Zhong’s family received a phone call to say that her arrest had been formally approved by the Xihu District Procuratorate.
The procuratorate later returned her case to the Hexi Police Station due to insufficient evidence, but the police fabricated more evidence and resubmitted her case. This time the procuratorate indicted her and forwarded her case to the Xihu District Court.
Judge Jiang Yaling sentenced Ms. Zhong to three years on November 20, 2014. It remained unclear whether a trial was ever held before the conviction. The Benxi City Intermediate Court ruled to uphold her original verdict without holding a hearing and ordered that she be admitted to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on February 12, 2015.
During the required physical examination, Ms. Zhong was found to have a systolic blood pressure of more than 200 mmHg when a normal range is no more than 120 mmHg. The prison denied her admission and the police took her back to the detention center. They released her on one-year bail on May 15, 2015.
Failed Attempts to Take Ms. Zhong Back Into Custody
While Ms. Zhong was out on bail, the local justice bureau and community workers harassed Ms. Zhong many times and ordered her to undergo a physical examination to see if she had improved enough to be detained.
Officer Ma Liang of the Qianjin Police Station called Ms. Zhong on July 27, 2015 and ordered her and her husband, Mr. Liang Hongjia, to report to them the next day to fill out some forms. The couple went as instructed, but there was no form to fill out. The police instead interrogated the couple. Ms. Zhong refused to provide her fingerprint, and officer Ma threatened to make her daughter’s life difficult.
Ma’s deputy chief questioned Ms. Zhong if her husband also practiced Falun Gong. She replied that was his personal decision and had nothing to do with her. The deputy chief then questioned why she had filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese dictator who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong. She said it was to stop Jiang’s followers from committing further crimes against law-abiding Falun Gong practitioners.
The police took the couple to a hospital to undergo physical examinations. Ms. Zhong was found to have high blood pressure and symptoms of cerebral thrombosis. She was released after the physical examination, but her husband was detained for five days. Their home was also raided, with the police seizing one copy of Zhuan Falun (main teaching of Falun Gong), some Falun Gong informational materials and other personal belongings.
Held in the Hospital for One Week Before Prison Admission in 2016
Three officers from the Qianjin Police Station, including Ma, along with a procuratorate worker, knocked on Ms. Zhong’s door at around 9:30 a.m. on November 8, 2016. They got a locksmith to pry open the door when she refused to let them in. They claimed that the Xihu District Court had instructed them to talk to her to go through some things related to her case.
Instead of talking to her, the police took Ms. Zhong to a hospital for physical examination. She was found to be unfit for detention and denied admission by the Benxi City Detention Center. The police then took her straight to the Jinshan Hospital without notifying her family.
Ms. Zhong was held in the hospital for one week and forced to taken injections and pills. The police took her to the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on November 15, 2016. By then her family had found out her whereabouts. They called judge Jiang to inquire about what was going on and she replied that the justice bureau had advised them to get Ms. Zhong jailed.
Even though Ms. Zhong was assigned to a ward for the elderly and the infirm, she was still forced to do hard labor without pay, which further worsened her health condition. She eventually was unable to walk on her own. By the time she was released ahead of time on October 28, 2017, she had become incapacitated. She died on November 22, 2023.
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