(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: This is part of a series of death cases newly translated by the English site of Minghui.org. These cases have long been published on the Chinese site of Minghui.org but have not been translated until now.
Name: Zhang HongbinChinese Name: 张洪彬Gender: MaleAge: 39City: ZhaoyuanProvince: ShandongOccupation: Hotel employeeDate of Death: July 2016Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 13, 2007Most Recent Place of Detention: Brainwashing center
A 39-year-old resident of Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province, died in July 2016 after suffering years of persecution for his faith in Falun Gong.
Mr. Zhang Hongbin and his parents all took up Falun Gong in 1997 and benefited greatly. After the persecution began in 1999, Mr. Zhang went to Beijing to seek justice in October 2000. He was arrested at Tiananmen Square while trying to stop the police from beating another Falun Gong practitioner. He was taken to a detention center, where the guards instructed the inmates to beat him. He was covered with wounds all over his body. The next day he was escorted back to Jinan. He was kept at a brainwashing center for more than ten days before being released. His employer, a hotel affiliated with the municipal tax bureau, fired him shortly afterwards.
The police arrested Mr. Zhang again in December 2001 and interrogated him with torture. Three days later he was taken to the Huangdao Detention Center. The guards there instructed the inmates to punch and kick him every day. They also forced him to do hard labor. The Huangdao District Court sentenced him to eight years on April 17, 2002.
Mr. Zhang was admitted to the Shandong Province First Prison in May 2002. He was again forced to do hard labor for hours and also endured brutal torture. He developed anorexia and became emaciated. The prison released him ahead of time.
Mr. Zhang and his mother, Ms. Tang Cuixiang, were arrested on July 13, 2007, after Ms. Tang was reported for putting up self-adhesive signs with information about the persecution of Falun Gong. The mother and son were taken to a brainwashing center that night. Officer Li Jianguang raided the Zhang family’s home and arrested his father, Mr. Zhang Qi too.
Mr. Zhang Hongbin was brutally tortured at the brainwashing center. He was handcuffed and hung up to a wooden frame with his feet off the ground. The guards shocked him on the toes with electric batons for hours on end. The handcuffs cut deep into his flesh and he bled profusely. He screamed in pain. The guards later let him down but tied him in a bed in a spread-eagle position for two straight days. He could not turn his body, sleep, or use the restroom.
After Mr. Zhang was released from the brainwashing center 23 days later, he learned that both of his parents were given forced labor. His health declined and he died in July 2016 at the age of 39.
Parents’ Persecution
Ms. Tang and her husband were arrested on the same night as their son on July 13, 2007 and taken to the local brainwashing center. All three were subjected to brutal torture. Officer Song Shaochang once grabbed Ms. Tang’s hair with one hand and slapped her in the face with the other hand. Her face immediately became swollen and deformed. Another time Song tied her hands and legs for two days in a manner such that she could not eat or use the restroom.
Ms. Tang and her husband were later each given one and a half years of forced labor. They were cuffed together and taken to the Zibo Second Detention Center on August 14, 2007. Ms. Tang was released two weeks later when she became critically ill. After her husband’s term ended, he was taken to the same brainwashing center and held for one week before being released. During his term, Mr. Zhang Qi’s employer suspended his pay, which was never reinstated.
The death of their son in July 2016 was a huge blow to them. Ms. Tang died in October 2022 at the age of 70.
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