Lecturer Li Xianghong Sentenced to Eleven Years in Prison

Ms. Li Xianghong is about thirty-seven years old. She was a teacher in the Xinjiang Engineering Institute in Xinjiang Province.

She has practised Falun Gong since 1997 and her Meniere's syndrome and other diseases have been completely cured. She follows the principles of Dafa and has become a kind person at work and at home. Her dedication to work and kindness is well respected and praised by her colleagues and students.

In July 20th 1999, Jiang's regime launched the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, but Li Xianghong did not give up her belief. In October 1999, she was forced into the Xinjiang Fourth People's Hospital (a mental hospital) even though she had no history of mental illness, and was held there for two months, where she was forced to receive injections of nerve-damaging drugs.

In April 2001, she was sentenced to three years in a forced labor camp. Li Xianghong appealed the illegal sentence; however, her appeal was rejected. She went on a hunger strike to protest. One week into the hunger strike, she was sent to the third prison hospital. During her stay in that hospital, prison guards forcefully handcuffed her hands to a bed and force-fed her inhumanely. They inserted a tube from her nose to her stomach and fed her some porridge. They inserted and pulled out the tube repeatedly every day, causing a large area of soft tissue in her nose and stomach to be damaged, and the tube was covered with blood when it was pulled out. In spite of this condition, the tube was often inserted into her trachea. Over forty days later, she suffered high fever due to a lung infection from the force-feeding, and she was extremely thin and weak. She could only make hoarse, rattling noises when she tried to speak. Upon seeing that she was near death, the guards were afraid to take responsibility. The court sentenced her to three years of custody outside of prison and let her parents take her home.

Upon going home, Li Xianghong kept practising Falun Dafa and she quickly recovered. In order to let more people know the truth about Dafa and persecution, realize the lies and awaken their righteous thoughts, Li Xianhong printed and distributed truth clarification materials. In March 2003, she was once again arrested by police from the "610 Office" [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems] in Urumqi City, Xinjiang Province and sentenced to eleven years. She was sent to the Xinjiang Second Prison. At present she is in the process of appealing.

We call on all countries, organizations, and all kind-hearted people to care about this issue and request the release of Li Xianghong and all other innocent Falun Gong practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/4/21/72869.html