(Minghui.org) A Dongying City, Shandong Province, resident was sentenced to 3.5 years by the Dongying District Court in July 2024 for practicing Falun Gong. He has appealed the verdict.

Mr. Zhang Aiquan, a former supervisor at the Binhai Police Traffic Control Center, was arrested during a police sweep on November 29, 2023. He was detained at the Binhai Detention Center. It’s not clear whether he had been transferred to a prison at the time of writing.

Mr. Zhang took up Falun Gong in 1995 and credited the practice for changing him into a better person. Because he refused to give up his faith when the Chinese communist regime launched the persecution in 1999, he was not only fired from his job, but also given three years of forced labor in 2000 and sentenced to eight years in 2006. He suffered severe injuries to his back and legs as a result of torture in custody. His wife, Ms. Wang Mingyun, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was sentenced to seven and a half years in 2006. The torture, including being forced to ingest unknown drugs, she suffered at the Shandong Province Women’s Prison ruined her health and she passed away three months after she was released on November 19, 2012.

Ms. Wang Mingyun

Early Persecution of Mr. Zhang

From July 22, 1999 and December 23, 1999, Mr. Zhang was detained at his workplace and not allowed to go home. His salary was suspended for nine months and he was only given 300 yuan every month to cover the most basic living cost.

Mr. Zhang was arrested at home by over 40 police officers on July 20, 2000. He was detained at his workplace for a month and then transferred to the Binhai Detention Center to serve 30 days of criminal detention. The guards there kept him shackled all the time. He was fired by his workplace during his detention.

When Mr. Zhang’s criminal detention expired on September 19, 2000, instead of releasing him, the police took him to the Bindong Police Station for the so-called “residential surveillance.” Ten days later, he was given three years of forced labor and taken to the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp.

In the labor camp, Mr. Zhang was subjected to intensive brainwashing and physical abuse. He was deprived of sleep, denied restroom use, forced to sit on a small stool motionless for more than ten hours each day. His buttocks festered and he was in excruciating pain as a result of the sitting torture. The guards sometimes left him outside under the scorching sun for hours on end. He was also forced to do hard labor without pay. After he was released, he resumed practicing Falun Gong and regained his health. He found a new job at the Dongxin Oil Production Plant.

The Couple’s Arrest and Sentencing

Mr. Zhang and his wife Ms. Wang were both arrested on May 13, 2005. The police beat Mr. Zhang on the head and his clothes was soaked with blood.

Due to the many copies of the book Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party confiscated from their home, the Shandong Provincial Public Security Department formed a special task force to investigate it. In a brainwashing center located in the Shengli Hotel, they restrained Mr. Zhang in a metal chair, handcuffed and shackled him, and interrogated him for nine days. He wasn’t allowed to sleep during the time and also shocked with electric batons many times.

Mr. Zhang was put on criminal detention on May 22, 2005 and transferred to the detention center. He was tied up in a spread-eagle position in a bed for over a month.

Torture re-enactment: tied up in a spread-eagle position

Mr. Zhang and Ms. Wang appeared in the Huaitai Court on March 1, 2006. Their lawyers entered not guilty plea for them. The judge sentenced Mr. Zhang to eight years and Ms. Wang to seven and a half years on July 28, 2006.

While serving time at the Shandong Province Prison, Mr. Zhang was constantly beaten and deprived of sleep. He was once beaten by eight inmates, which caused him to go into shock twice in two days and unable to walk for two weeks. His right leg, right arm and back were severely injured and the pain lasted for several years after he was released. The authorities also barred his family from visiting or writing to him during his prison term.

Ms. Wang’s Miserable Death

Ms. Wang was forced to stand for long hours each day for over 40 days at the Shandong Province Women’s Prison. She only had two or three hours of sleep every day. Instigated by the guards, the inmates beat and verbally abused her at will. They also denied her family visits and restricted her from buying daily necessities. Worse still, the guards added unknown drugs into her food, causing her to develop extremely itchy bumps all over her body.

As a result of the torture and drug administration, Ms. Wang’s hair turned gray, her teeth became loose and she had consistently high blood pressure. She passed away on February 11, 2013, three months after her prison release. She was only 52.

Related Reports:

Dongying City, Shandong Province: 18 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day

Ms. Wang Mingyun from Shengli Oil Field Dies After Seven Years of Imprisonment

Mr. Zhang Aiquan and His Wife, Both Practitioners from Shengli Oil Field, Sentenced to Prison Terms