Name: Wang Xiuzhi (王秀芝)
Gender: Female
Age: 74
Address: Acheng District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 8, 2007
Most Recent Place of Detention: Harbin Women's Prison (哈尔滨女子监狱)
City: Harbin
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Imprisonment, extortion, detention
(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Wang Xiuzhi, 74, is a resident of Acheng District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. She was imprisoned for 18 months for distributing Falun Gong fliers beginning in May 2007. Before her release in December 2008, she had completely lost her eyesight.
Arrested and Unlawfully Detained
Ms. Wang and two other practitioners were reported and arrested by officers from the Liaodian Township Police Station while they were distributing Falun Gong fliers in Sanjiazi Village, Liaodian Township, Acheng District on May 8, 2007.
The officers interrogated her, took pictures of the fliers that she carried, along with other Falun Gong printouts that they found elsewhere. Then they reported the case to the Acheng District 610 Office. She was taken to the Acheng District 2nd Detention Center at night. She was held there for fifteen days before she was transferred and detained for two months at the 1st Detention Center.
On July 31, 2007, Ms. Wang was taken to the Seventh Division of Harbin (also called Yaziquan Detention Center), where she began losing her eyesight. The administration of the Harbin Women's Prison ordered her family to pay 900 yuan, citing a physical exam towards her medical release on December 19, 2007. The family did not pay and Ms. Wang was imprisoned at the Harbin Women's Prison.
Ms. Wang completely lost her eyesight in the prison. She was released on December 18, 2008.
