Mr. Yan Weihong Very Weak and in Critical Condition at Urumqi No. 5 Prison; His Wife Forced to Leave Town

On the evening of February 17th, 2006, Mr. Yan Weihong from the Taiyu Residential Community in Urumqi City, Xinjiang, Uyghur Autonomous Region, was arrested by officials from the city's 610 Office¹ and local police station. He was later sent to the Manas County State Security Division. He was heavily sentenced to four years in prison. Mr. Yan is being held at the Urumqi No. 5 Prison. He has been on a hunger strike since the beginning of his detention and is very weak and in critical condition.

In 2006, Mr. Yan and his wife worked together in the cotton fields along with another couple from Shihezi City, Wang Xinmin and his wife Wang Fang. Later, Mr. and Mrs. Wang were arrested in Aksu City for placing banners in a public area. Xia Yi (male), an officer from the Aksu City Police Department brought Mr. and Mrs. Wang to implicate Mr. Yan Weihong. As a result, Mr. Yan was also arrested.

In order to collect trumped-up "evidence," the police went to Mr. Yan's home and conducted numerous searches but ended up with nothing. The police turned to threaten Mr. Yan's wife who had a one-month-old baby. They eventually tricked her and took her to the Manas County State Security Division, where the officers tried to force her to admit to her husband's involvement in distributing Falun Gong materials. She refused to say anything and was cruelly beaten by three officers. One of the officer's last name was Lu.

Mr. Yan Weihong is being held in the Urumqi No. 5 Prison to serve a sentence of four years in prison. The authorities have denied his family any visits, ostensibly because Mr. Yan has not been following prison regulations. Mr. Yan has been on a hunger strike since his arrest. He is very weak and in critical condition.

His wife has been forced to leave town with her young infant. Their whereabouts are unknown.

Manas County State Security Division: 86-944-6394222;
Mogou Traffic Division's Brainwashing Centre in Urumqi City: 86-991-4643984;

Note

1. "The 610 office" is 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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/1/25/147551.html