(Minghui.org)

Name: Zhang ChengjunChinese Name: 张成军Gender: MaleAge: 58City: DalianProvince: LiaoningOccupation: N/ADate of Death: September 24, 2012Date of Most Recent Arrest: 2001Most Recent Place of Detention: Guanshan Labor Camp

A 58-year-old man in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, died on September 24, 2012, after suffering years of persecution for his faith in Falun Gong, Minghui.org learned recently.

Once a wife-beater, Mr. Zhang Chengjun changed after he attended a lecture given by the founder of Falun Gong in 1994. He became a loving husband and father.

After the communist regime started the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Zhang held firm to his faith and was repeatedly harassed and arrested. His wife was unable to cope and divorced him. He moved out of the house with their son and lived in rental places. Because an ID is required to rent places, he had to move frequently to avoid being found by the police.

Mr. Zhang was later arrested again and given a forced labor term (exact length unknown). He was put in the Dalian City Labor Camp in 2001. One day, he and other detained practitioners were taken to an auditorium to hear some “experts” criticize Falun Gong. Mr. Zhang refuted them and was removed from the auditorium. The guards beat him until he passed out.

From March to August 2001, the labor camp guards held a marathon “transformation” campaign aimed to force all 108 detained Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their faith. The practitioners were subjected to various forms of torture, including being beaten with rubber clubs, being handcuffed and hung up, restrained in an iron chair, forced to bend in awkward postures, and shocked with multiple electric batons.

March 19, 2001, was a particularly brutal day for the 108 practitioners. Two were maimed due to torture, while many others were left incapacitated and covered in injuries.

Mr. Zhang held firm to his faith despite the brutal torture. He was later put in solitary confinement and tortured again. Once, a guard turned on a high-voltage electric baton and Mr. Zhang blocked it with his chest. The guard became scared and dropped the baton, seeing that Mr. Zhang was not even deterred by the blue sparks emitted from the baton.

Mr. Zhang was transferred to the Guanshan Labor Camp on August 9, 2001. He faced continued torture there and became almost blind. His legs hurt so much that he couldn’t sleep. He was reduced to skin and bones. Nonetheless, he never wavered in his faith.

After he was released (time unknown), Mr. Zhang struggled to recover from his injuries. He couldn’t lie or sit for long due to his leg pain. He paced day and night to relieve the pain. About half a year later, he'd recovered by doing the Falun Gong exercises. The police and street committee, however, kept harassing him. He moved from one place to another to avoid being persecuted. His health declined again. He had blood in his stool and again suffered relentless leg pain. He died on September 24, 2012.

Since the practitioners in his area were mostly elderly and did not know how to use a computer, Mr. Zhang’s death was not reported to Minghui.org until recently. Some details are still missing, including his persecution at the Guanshan Labor Camp. We hope insiders can provide additional information.