After Previously Enduring 3.5 Years of Torture in Prison, Hunan Man Again Faces Trial for His Faith
(Minghui.org) A 59-year-old Chenxi County, Hunan Province resident has stayed in Zhuhai City, Guangzhou Province for the past few years to help care for his grandchild. He was arrested at his son’s home in Zhuhai on December 24, 2023, and now faces a trial by the Xiangzhou District Court.
Mr. Hu Zihua, also known as Hu Chougai, has been held in the Zhuhai City Second Detention Center since his arrest. After officers from the Doumen District Domestic Security Division submitted his case to the Xiangzhou District Procuratorate, the prosecutor returned his case twice, citing insufficient evidence. The prosecutor indicted Mr. Hu around August 2024, after the police submitted his case for the third time. Judge Hu Xiaoqing (no relation) of the Xiangzhou District Court scheduled a pre-trial meeting for October 15, 2024.
Previous 3.5-Year Prison Term
Mr. Hu, who was previously a tofu vendor, suffered gastric bleeding around early 2000, but couldn’t afford medical treatment. He came across Falun Gong while seeking folk remedies, and soon recovered. Grateful for Falun Gong, he began distributing materials in his spare time to raise awareness about the persecution, only to be arrested, sentenced, and tortured. His wife, Ms. Deng Yue’e, who also practices Falun Gong, was targeted as well.
Mr. Hu was first arrested on March 13, 2004 while distributing Falun Gong materials. He was beaten by eight officers from the Wang’anping Village government and transferred to the Chenxi County Lockup in the evening.
For the next few days, officers Yu Qingchang and Xie Kaiji took turns interrogating Mr. Hu. He was hung up by his wrists for several hours. The police also clamped his fingers with fire tongs. His body became covered with bruises and injuries from the torture. He also became incontinent. When his daughter visited him five days after his arrest, she was scared upon seeing him with dark circles under his eyes and shaking hands, while in a confused state.
The Chenxi County Police Department gave Mr. Hu an unknown forced labor term at the Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp, shortly after his daughter left. Weeks later, the police revoked the labor camp term and transferred him back to the Chenxi County Detention Center and submitted his case to the court. He was later sentenced to three years in prison and admitted to the Wuling Prison in September 2004.
Mr. Hu’s wife was still serving a labor camp term when he was sentenced, leaving their middle-schooler son and daughter in a dire situation.
When Mr. Hu’s term expired in March 2007, the prison refused to release him, and didn’t allow his family to visit him until July 2007. They were surprised to see him still wearing thick, long-sleeved clothes despite the hot weather. He told them that because the inmates often beat him, wearing thick clothing alleviated some of the pain.
Mr. Hu’s family questioned the prison as to why they were not releasing him after he had already served his term. The prison said that he had actually been sentenced to 3.5 years and wouldn’t be released until September 2007.
Wife’s Persecution
Mr. Hu’s wife, Ms. Deng, was arrested in 2002 for studying Falun Gong’s teachings with other practitioners, and given three years at the Changsha Women’s Forced Labor Camp.
Ms. Deng was arrested again on August 20, 2015, for distributing Falun Gong materials in Zhangjiajie City in the same province. She was held at the Zhangjiajie City Detention Center and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison by the Yongding District Court, days after a hearing on April 12, 2016.
At the Hunan Province Women’s Prison, Ms. Deng was forced to wear a straitjacket, and hung up by her wrists for one night. She was then forced to squat for more than ten hours. When she later changed her clothes, a large piece of skin that was stuck to her pants was ripped off. The guards repeated the same torture two more times within a week.
Illustration of the straitjacket torture
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Straitjacket Commonly Used in Hunan Women’s Prison to Torture Falun Gong Practitioners