Disabled Woman Taken to Prison By Wheelchair for Her Faith

Based on an original report from Minghui.org

For putting up posters and talking to people about Falun Gong, Ms. Zhang Junling, a 62-year-old disabled woman from  Huichun City, Jilin Province, was taken to Jilin Province Women’s Prison to serve a 1.5 year term in early August 2021.

The mental distress from the persecution caused Zhang to suffer swelling and pain around the area where she had a mastectomy years ago. As she had an amputation of her left calf (due to a train accident in 1981), the artificial leg she was wearing no longer fit as she lost a significant amount of weight. Many other ailments Zhang had that were cured by practicing Falun Gong also relapsed.

Zhang was arrested on February 14, 2019, held at the local prison for 15 days, and then put under house arrest. After she returned home, the police and residential committee staff members often called and harassed her. On June 10, for example, several police officers went to her home, asking her to sign a document of additional evidence used to charge her, as well as a statement renouncing Falun Gong. She refused to comply.

Zhang appeared in Longjing Court in a wheelchair on September 26, 2019 and was sentenced to one year in prison. Given her persistent health problems, however, the judge ordered her to serve time outside of the prison.

Despite her declining health, the police took her back into custody again at Yanji Detention Center on June 9, 2021. The police claimed that the one-year term she received in 2019 was no longer valid because she did not serve time in the prison. The judge then sentenced her to another 1.5-year term, which began on June 9.

Zhang was transferred by wheelchair to the Jilin Province Women’s Prison in early August. As the authorities prevented her family from visiting her, they are now very worried about her health.

Original Article: https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2021/8/17/194666.html