After Being Arrested Eight Times, Ms. Chen Shuqin Dies in Changchun Women's Prison

Name: Chen Shuqin
Gender: Female
Age: 61
Address: B27 Qianfengyuan Community, Lianhua Street, Changyi District, Jilin City
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: February 2011
Date of Most Recent Arrest: Unknown
Most Recent Place of Detention: Changchun Women's Prison
City: Jilin
Province: Jilin
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, forced injections/drug administration, imprisonment, home ransacked, detention

Ms. Chen Shuqin had many illnesses prior to practising Falun Gong, of which a severe eye problem was the most troublesome. After she began practising Falun Gong in 1996, all of her illnesses disappeared. Ms. Chen was happy and grateful for both the physical and mental benefits she received after taking up the practice.

During the past 12 years of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) suppression of Falun Gong, Ms. Chen had been telling people about her own experiences to affirm the goodness of Falun Gong. She was arrested eight times, served a one-year term in a forced labour camp, and was sentenced to five years in prison. During her time in detention, she was subjected to severe physical and mental abuse, she became emaciated, and her back was hunched over to a 90 degree angle. She died in Changchun Women's Prison in February 2011.

At 8:00 p.m. on June 19th, 2006, Guo Jinghua, head of the Party Committee of Qianfengyuan Community, led a group of officers from the Lianhua Street Police Station and the Jilin City 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), and they broke into Ms. Chen's home. Ms. Chen was home alone, and the officers commanded, “Follow us to the re-education class. You can come back after two days of study.” Ms. Chen refused, so the officers forcibly dragged her downstairs and pushed her into the police car. One neighbour called out, “Don't take her away. She is a kind old woman. She even cleans our stairs. She is the best. Why are you taking her away?” The officers shoved the neighbour down the stairs and many witnesses said, “What kind of society is this today where the good people are arrested?”

On September 24th, 2006, Ms. Chen was arrested by officers from the Yunheli Police Station in Changyi District. She was held at the Jilin City Detention Centre.

At around 6:00 p.m. on April 23rd, 2008, Ms. Chen was arrested at her home by officers from the Lianhua Street Police Station. The officers confiscated her Falun Gong books and took her to the Jilin City Detention Centre.

In September 2009, Ms. Chen began a hunger strike to protest her detention and was taken to the Jilin Province Police Hospital to receive drug injections.

In 2010, Ms. Chen was arrested by officers from the Zhanqian Police Station in Changyi District while speaking with people about Falun Gong. She was taken to the Jilin City Detention Centre and was later sentenced to five years in prison. She became emaciated, and her back was hunched over to a 90 degree angle as a result of the persecution. She was released due to her critical condition.

Several days after she returned home, she was again arrested at her home by officers from the Lianhua Street Police Station. Her neighbours commented, “She was so thin and frail, yet she was still taken away.” Ms. Chen was taken to the Changchun Women's Prison. She went on a hunger strike to protest her imprisonment. She died in prison in February 2011. Her head was swollen when she died. The prison paid 50,000 yuan¹ to her family to settle her death quietly.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/11/27/249837.html