(Minghui.org)
Name: Zhang YueqinChinese Name: 张月芹Gender: FemaleAge: 78City: TangshanProvince: HebeiOccupation: Meat factory workerDate of Death: April 10, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 19, 2017Most Recent Place of Detention: Hebei Province Women’s Prison
A 78-year-old woman in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, died on April 10, 2024, less than four years after she completed her second prison term for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Zhang Yueqin and her husband in their younger years
Ms. Zhang Yueqin and her husband Mr. He Yixing, also a Falun Gong practitioner, were both arrested on April 19, 2017, and sentenced to 3.5 years on November 21 that year. After their appeals were rejected, Ms. Zhang was admitted to the Hebei Province Women’s Prison in the capital city of Shijiazhuang in early April 2018 and Mr. He to the Jidong Prison in Tangshan City days later.
While serving time, Ms. Zhang was so abused that she developed a mental disorder and her health declined. She was released in October 2020. When she recounted what she had endured to her family, her legs shook involuntarily and she had a hard time organizing her speech. She told her family that the guards put unknown drugs into her food. In the next few years, she struggled with declining mental health. She also had difficulty eating and often vomited, as well as having loose bowels, resulting in significant weight loss. She died on April 10, 2024.
Ms. Zhang’s passing capped decades of suffering at the hands of the communist regime for her faith in Falun Gong. See the related reports for details of the persecution she and her family endured. Below is a quick recap of their plight.
Not long after the persecution began, Ms. Zhang, who had already retired from the Tangshan City Meat Factory at the time, was held at her former workplace for several months. Her husband Mr. He, an official with the Tangshan City Power Company, was demoted and held at an unknown location for a while, also.
The couple and their younger daughter, Ms. He Yan, were arrested in 2001. Ms. Zhang was held at two different brainwashing centers for a total of almost 11 months. At one point she was not allowed to sleep and developed a heart condition.
Ms. Zhang and her husband were arrested out in public in November 2004 and beaten by five officers. Her winter coat was ripped to pieces.
The police arrested the couple, their daughter Ms. He, and her husband, Mr. Sun Fengli on July 10, 2008, and confiscated more than 600,000 yuan from their shared residence. Ms. Zhang’s older daughter Ming (alias), who had borrowed the money to run a business, was deceived into going to the police station on July 29 that year. She was held there for 15 days, during which time the police warned her not to seek the return of the confiscated money.
Ms. Zhang was sentenced to five years, her husband to seven years, and their son-in-law the three years around January 2009. Ms. He was given two years of forced labor in Kaiping Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan City. Her husband and father served time in Jidong Prison and her mother in the Hebei Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Zhang was brutally tortured while serving her first prison sentence. She was released in July 2013. She was arrested again on July 8, 2015, and detained for 15 days, prior to her last arrest with her husband on April 19, 2017. The authorities suspended over 100,000 yuan of her pension during her prison term.
Related Reports:
The Persecution of Tangshan Falun Gong Practitioners Continued in 2018
Married Couple in Hebei Jailed Again for Their Faith
Ms. Zhang Yueqin Severely Tortured at Hebei Women's Prison
Victims' Family Members Sue the Police for Stealing 600,000 Yuan in Cash
650,000 Yuan in Cash Taken after Mrs. Zhang Yueqin and Four Members of her
Copyright © 2024 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
