Zhang Jian (pseudonym), male, born in 1948, and his wife, Liu Mei (pseudonym), born in 1950, are residents of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They joined The Church of Almighty God in 2008. They were arrested in September 2014 by the CCP police for their belief and later given hefty sentences. During their detention, Zhang Jian was mistreated and disabled, while Liu Mei was delayed in treatment for her illness, resulting in her condition worsening. She passed away after getting out of prison.
Elderly couple arrested, later given hefty sentences
On the morning of September 12, 2014, seven police officers suddenly broke into Zhang’s house and made a thorough search. They confiscated all the church belongings kept in his house, and looted all his personal property. They then took him and his wife to the Public Security Bureau and interrogated them separately. Though Zhang Jian was examined to suffer gallstone and his wife suffered diabetes and high blood pressure, the police still held them in the detention house.
During their detention, the couple was mistreated. Zhang had his shoes confiscated, and everyday he had to walk on cold floor only with his socks. In old winter, he only wore thin clothes, and slept on a paper cardboard on the floor, and his comforter was very thin. The clothes his family sent to him were detained by the police. After he was tormented for one year, he had so much pain in his waist and legs that he limped along while walking. Liu Mei could not receive treatment for her diabetes and had non-nutritious food in the detention house, and she became terribly skinny and weak as a result.
One year after they were put in custody, Zhang Jian and his wife were sentenced to four and three years in prison respectively on the charge of “using a xie jiao organization to undermine the law enforcement.”
The couple disabled due to mistreatment
During his prison term, Zhang was forced to overloaded labor, resulting in the worsening of his condition. Two years later, he had so much pain that he could not walk and had no appetite. In spite of this, he could not receive any effective treatment. After he completed his term and got out of prison, he was paralyzed on the bed, unable to walk.
Liu Mei’s condition was worsening while in custody. In October 2015, she had a fall and suffered a fracture as her vision blurred. The prison doctor gave her a medical crisis notice, and her family asked to transfer her to another hospital, but the prison authorities claimed that the transfer was prohibited as she was a believer in Almighty God. It was not until one year later that she was released on bail for medical treatment. A week after her operation, she was taken by the prison guard back to the prison hospital before her cut was recovered.
Three months later, she lost the sight of both eyes and could not take care of herself, but she was still taken back to the cell to serve her term. Before long, cracks appeared in the part of her bone where it was joined up, but the prison authorities still did not grant her release on bail for medical treatment. Six months later, her condition worsened again, and only then did the prison police grant her release one month before due date, because they were afraid that they would be held accountable if she died in the prison. The police ordered her to stay home within one year and give up her belief in Almighty God.
Wife passes away, while husband kept under surveillance
Zhang Jiang and her wife could not take care of themselves after they got out of prison, but the CCP police still did not let them go. They often visited their house, harassed and questioned them. Due to the CCP’s persecution, Liu Mei’s condition went on worsening, and died of illness on October 4, 2018. After that, the police still visited Zhang and questioned about his belief. Now he is still kept under the CCP’s surveillance.
