Jinzhong Guards Ordered Prisoners to Brutally Beat Mr. Wang Zhigang, Resulting in Blindness

Name: Wang Zhigang
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Address: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 10th, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jinzhong Prison Province: Shanxi
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, beatings, hung up, imprisonment, torture

Mr. Wang Zhigang started practising Falun Gong in 1996. Because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been persecuting Falun Gong since 1999, Mr. Wang was arrested in 2008. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term and detained in Jinzhong Prison. This once healthy man became blind in his right eye and the sight in his left eye became blurry after brutal beatings by prisoners.

Mr. Wang Zhigang was detained in the 3rd Ward at Jinzhong Prison. The ward director was Wang Xiuwu. The guards ordered inmates that were imprisoned for criminal activities, including killing and other violent acts, to beat Mr. Wang and make him stand still for extended periods of time. The inmates who beat Mr. Wang included Yu Tao, Zhang Xiaojun, and Quan Yongjun. They tried different violent methods to try to “transform” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] Mr. Wang and make him write the three statements to renounce practising Falun Gong.

Mr. Wang's family noticed during a prison visit that his face and mouth were swollen. They asked him if he had been beaten. He nodded in response. When he returned to the cell after the visit, he was again dragged to another small cell and brutally beaten.

Mr. Wang was forced to work and was frequently abused physically and mentally. Once, when sewing cushions, prisoners Yu Tao and Zhang Xiaojun brutally hit Mr. Wang in the face. Mr. Wang's eyes were injured. Another time, because Mr.Wang protested when taken to a small room behind the 3rd Ward workshop, they brutally hit his face again, resulting in further injury to his eyes.

Mr. Wang was again brutally beaten by Yu Tao, Quan Yongjun, and Ning Xinchun in January 2010, which caused injuries to his face and his vision became blurry. He was checked several times in the hospital in 2010. The initial diagnosis was the presence of blood, but the diagnostic report was changed. At that time, Mr. Wang was already blind in his right eye and the vision in his left eye was poor. He was almost blind in his left by by January 12th, 2011. He no longer could take care of himself.

Everyone who met Mr. Wang said that he was sincere, kind, tolerant, and happy to help others. During the time of national flooding in August 1998, he gave almost all his income to the victims. He paid for all kinds services and donated 15,000 yuan¹. The Taiyuan Evening News reported on his donation at that time. In return, Mr. Wang Zhigang, an outstanding young man, has suffered brutal beatings, making him blind and causing him physical and mental harm.

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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/3/23/237920.html