Mr. Hua Lianyou from Tianjin on Hunger Strike to Protest Another Arrest and Prison Term

Name: Hua Lianyou
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Address: Tianjin
Occupation: Newspaper delivery
Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 24th, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Binhai Prison
City: Tianjin
Persecution Suffered: Forced injections/drug administration, imprisonment, torture, force-feedings, home ransacked, detention

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Hua Lianyou and his wife, Ms. Tian Zongli, were arrested on April 24th, 2012. They went on a hunger strike on May 23rd to protest and resist the persecution. While Mr. Hua was ill at a hospital, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was then transferred from Binhai Prison to Xinsheng Hospital. Mr. Hua's wife Ms. Tian is currently detained at the Tianjin Beichen Detention Centre.

Mr. Hua's family members went to visit him at Xinsheng Hospital on December 25th. He was very emaciated and bedridden, yet still conscious and very clear-headed. The family demanded the prison authorities release him, but the prison authorities responded that only when someone is near death can they grant medical parole.

A Good Person Has Been Persecuted for Many Years

Since Mr. Hua and his wife Ms. Tian began to practise Falun Gong in 1997, they have benefited tremendously both physically and mentally. Mr. Hua used to suffer from protrusion of the lumbar intervertebral discs, and was healed after three days of practising Falun Gong. The couple follows the Falun Gong principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, continuously strives forward, and improves their characters. Mr. Hua has twice been hit by a car and even had a broken bone, yet he didn't ask the parties for any compensation. They were very grateful to Mr. Hua and to Dafa. Mr. Hua also gave them Falun Gong books. He continued to study the Falun Gong teachings and do the exercises at home and his broken bone healed within a month.

The couple's jobs were to deliver newspapers at a newspaper stand. Since they paid careful attention to their work and were very responsible, their boss was very satisfied. When officers from the Tianjin Hexi District Tonglou Police Station arrested the couple on February 22nd, 2001, they had just been named “Advanced Workers” by their workplace and had just received their awards. After Mr. Hua was arrested, his boss often called his family and asked when he would be back, as it was really hard to find good employees who paid attention to their work, and who were responsible and trustworthy like him.

At that time, their child was only 11 years old. Having both parents arrested, the grandma took the child along and went to police stations, courts, and procuratorates to demand the couple's release. Wherever they went, they walked. Since the grandma was elderly, she developed painful problems in her legs and feet. The couple's daughter used to be the head of the class, yet her parents' arrest and persecution was a big blow to her, and her grades went down rapidly. Also at that time, her teacher, who didn't know the truth, told other students in class to isolate her. The teacher said that Mr. Hua's daughter was mentally ill and would not let her attend class.

Without notifying the family, the court later abused the law and sentenced Mr. Hua to five years in prison and Ms. Tian to four years. They were detained separately in Tianjin First Prison and Tianjin Women's Prison. When the grandma questioned the court authorities, their response was, “There's nothing we can do.” Mr. Hua had been subjected to severe torture in prison and suffered from mental disorders when he was released in 2006. He would yell and shout for no reason and drink dirty water used for washing shoes. He remained in this state for about six months before gradually getting better. It is estimated that the prison authorities had persecuted him by giving him drugs that damage the nervous system.

Arrested Again and Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison

Mr. Hua and Ms. Tian were arrested again on April 24th, 2012, by police officers from the Hongqiao District Jiarongdao Police Station and their home was ransacked. The police confiscated personal belongings such as Falun Gong books, computer, and a printer. It is said that they were following orders from the city police department.

Mr. Hua's lawyer went to the Beichen Police Department Precinct on June 20th to go through required procedures in order to visit Mr. Hua. He found out that he was at the Ciji Hospital of Tianjin Xiqing District Cao Village First Detention Centre at the time. When the lawyer saw Mr. Hua in the afternoon, he then found out that Mr. Hua had already been on a hunger strike for nearly a month. There was a gastric tube inserted in his nose for force-feeding (secured with adhesive plaster where it was inserted into the nose). Mr. Hua, in order to protest and resist the persecution, started the hunger strike on May 24th and demanded to be released immediately. He was subjected to force-feeding many times a day.

The Beichen Court, manipulated by Tianjin party officials, tried Mr. Hua September 11th, 2012, after he had been on a hunger strike for nearly five months at the time at the detention centre hospital. Before the trial, the Beichen District public security system authorities worked in collusion with the defence lawyer's local Judicial Bureau and seized all of the files and material that the lawyer had photocopied. They also threatened the law firm to terminate their contract with the lawyer in an attempt to stop him from attending the court session to defend Mr. Hua. The officials of the Beichen District 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong), court, police station, and Community Residential Committee also went to see Mr. Hua's daughter. They threatened and tricked her and told her that they could help to assign a lawyer. When another two defence lawyers from Beijing that Mr. Hua's family hired were going to attend the court session on the morning of September 11th, the officials of the court went through an underground parking lot and secretly held the court session at the Zhuoyan Ciji Hospital. Under the Communist rule, the so-called “dignified” courts and state government agencies were scared to the point that they dared not make the court session known to the public. All the things they did during this entire process were immoral. This is truly sad, ridiculous, and shameful.

It was not until October 9th that the family received notice that Mr. Hua had been sentenced to seven years in prison and the effective date was September 14th, 2012. A judgment ruling had been reached three days after the trial, yet the family was not notified until after more than 20 days when the appeal period had passed.

During September and October of 2012, the Central Committee of the Political and Legislative Affairs of the Chinese Communist Party and 610 Office, in the name of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, controlled the police of various regions to persecute innocent Falun Gong practitioners. In the past two months, some regions have carried out a large scale operation to arrest, detain, and sentence prison and forced labour Falun Gong practitioners. At the same time, some places such as the forced labour camps and prisons started another round of “transformation” [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] in an attempt to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief. They use various methods to torture Falun Gong practitioners, and as a result many have been injured, disabled, and some have died.

Parties responsible for the persecution of Mr. Hua:

Xu Burong, warden of Tianjin Binhai Prison: +86-22-62071018 (Office)

Li Guoning, assistant warden of Tianjin Binhai Prison: +86-22-62071078 (Office), +86-13920446469 (Mobile)
Liu Feng, director of Beichen District Detention Centre: +86-22-26817434 (Office)
Dong Ping, director of Beichen District Police Department Precinct: +86-22-26392185 (Office), +86-13502028888 (Mobile)

Wang Cunyong, Beichen Domestic Security Division, +86-13920780868 (Mobile)

Beichen District Beicang Police Station, +86-22-26390326 (Office)