Ms. Liu Hong in Critical Condition Following Force-feeding

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Liu Hong, 37, went on a hunger strike to protest her January 9th arrest and detention. She was force-fed several times and is now receiving emergency treatment. She in critical condition.

Ms. Liu's mother went to the detention centre to visit her on January 23rd, but the detention centre staff said that her daughter was in the hospital. At the hospital, she learned that Ms. Liu was in the emergency room. A guard from the detention centre watched the area.

She returned to the hospital two days later, and the doctor said that Ms. Liu had swelled up suddenly. When her mum went to the emergency dept to see her, the guard stopped her, and a policewoman called the Wendeng Domestic Security Division.

Several officers from the detention centre and the domestic security division came. The mother cried. “You shouldn't harm my child,” she said. “She's a good person, so you cannot treat her like this. I want to take her home!”

Ms. Liu was very swollen, and the doctor told her mother that Ms. Liu's white blood cell count was dangerously low. He said she was in danger of dying if her condition did not improve.

Ms. Liu, from Weihai City, Shandong Province, was arrested at Wendeng Health School on the evening of January 9th, 2015. She was later detained and taken to the Wendeng Detention Centre.