(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Zhongfang, a resident of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, developed a mental disorder after being given toxic drugs while serving a 3.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong. Her condition never improved after she was released in early 2021 and she still struggles to care for herself as of this writing. Nonetheless, the authorities continued to constantly harass her and intimidate her daughter.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ongoing Harassment
In late September 2022, the first day after a two-week COVID lockdown in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province was lifted, Ms. Li’s daughter went out, only to be stopped by a police officer and a residential committee staff member. They demanded to meet with her mother. After she rejected them, they followed her for a long way. When she returned in the evening, the same two people, along with two more residential committee staff members, still stood outside her home. They didn’t leave until midnight.
For the next few days, the police and residential committee officials kept calling Ms. Li’s daughter. The police also attempted to find out Ms. Li’s address through the property management of her daughter’s subdivision.
As the police insisted that they must find Ms. Li, her daughter asked them what they wanted after all, with Ms. Li already suffering a mental disorder. One officer said he knew about Ms. Li’s situation, but he had to see her in person and ask her to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong, per an order from above.
Ms. Li’s daughter later confirmed that Yin Shunyao, a member of the Chengdu City Political and Legal Affairs Committee and director of the Xinjin Brainwashing Center, ordered a special task force to target every local Falun Gong practitioner and force them to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. One officer revealed that they had started to collect information about Ms. Li and her daughter since last year.
To avoid further police harassment, Ms. Li’s daughter moved to a different neighborhood.
When Ms. Li’s daughter went to visit her on October 2, 2022, she noticed a young man looking into Ms. Li’s apartment unit. She looked around and saw a futon in the hallway near the elevator. When she walked downstairs, the man also followed her.
Ms. Li’s daughter learned that many of the neighbors complained about the man staying in the hallway. Several residents saw him smoking there in the middle of the night. When they asked him what he was doing there, he waved his hand and said it was none of their business. Many of the residents also reported that strangers frequently knocked on their doors with all kinds of excuses. They felt very unsafe and nervous. But when they complained to the property management, they never received any response.
Involuntary Drug Administration in Custody
Ms. Li was arrested on August 1, 2017 while buying groceries. She held a hunger strike at the Chengdu City Detention Center to protest the persecution and was force-fed. According to an insider, the guards added a large amount of white powder into the food to feed her.
Ms. Li was later taken to the Qingyang District Hospital affiliated with the detention center. The guards kept her handcuffed and shackled to the bed. She was given constant IV drips, yet the nurses refused to disclose what was in it.
When Ms. Li appeared in the Qingyang District Court on April 10, 2018, she appeared to be very weak. Her body was trembling. Her lips were twitching. It took her a long time to respond to one question, yet she couldn’t talk clearly or fully express herself.
Ms. Li was later sentenced to 3.5 years and taken to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison in Chengdu City on July 2, 2018. She was subjected to various kinds of torture and beating. The guards didn’t allow her family to visit her.
When she was taken to the Third Ward in the prison on July 11, 2018, the inmates forced her to wear the prison uniform and cut her hair. She was held in room 412, where Falun Gong practitioners who refused to renounce their faith were tortured. The inmates beat her throughout the night until early morning.
Since then, the guards began to force Ms. Li to take psychiatric drugs, with the excuse that she was mentally disoriented. They even tried to force her family to take her for a psychiatric evaluation and persuade her to cooperate and take the drugs. Her family refused to comply. They argued that she was perfectly healthy before being arrested, and asked why she suffered the condition while in custody. If she was indeed sick, the prison should release her on medical parole for her to recover. Yet the authorities rejected their parole request, with the excuse that the procedure was difficult to complete.
According to an insider, Ms. Li was forced to take the unknown drugs twice a day, every day for two years. The prison also monitored whether she swallowed the drugs through surveillance cameras. By September 2018, only two months after she was taken to the prison, she had already developed a serious mental condition. She would lie in bed drooling and spitting and was often in a daze. Her eyes were dull. She was also emaciated and weak.
For the first few days after Ms. Li was released in early 2021, her condition was relatively stable. Her family suspected that she was given tranquilizers. As time went by, she became manic and sometimes locked herself in the room. She was unable to distinguish day and night. Occasionally, she uttered a few words about the torture she suffered in the prison. But she appeared to be extremely nervous and sensitive when her family asked her about the toxic drugs.
Related reports:
Sichuan Woman Suffers Mental Disorder Due to Involuntary Drug Administration in Custody
Unknown Drugs and Injections Forced on Falun Gong Practitioners in Sichuan Province
Ms. Li Zhongfang in Critical Condition; Family's Request for Medical Parole DeniedChengdu Practitioner Tortured in Custody, On Hunger Strike
Police Sneak into Woman's Home and Take Her Falun Gong Books
Chengdu Woman in Critical Condition, Attorney Files Medical Parole Request
Ms. Li Zhongfang from Chengdu City Arrested and Sent to a Brainwashing Center
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