Heilongjiang Man Dies 12 Days after Release on Medical Parole

Mr. Lu Shubin was emaciated but had a swollen belly when he was released on medical parole on May 17, 2018. He had been diagnosed with liver cancer and ascites 15 days before that. He died on May 29 at the age of 56.

The Dongbao City resident was arrested on February 2, 2015, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, a mind-body practice being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

Mr. Lu was known as a bad-tempered man before he took up the practice of Falun Gong in 2012. He often beat his wife and daughter for trivial things and once chased a traffic police officer for ticketing him. He totally changed after he began to live by Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Having had firsthand experience with Falun Gong, Mr. Lu took every opportunity to inform people that the practice is nothing like what the state propaganda says it is. That landed him in police custody in February 2015. He appeared in court on July 9 that year and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

Mr. Lu was diagnosed with osteoporosis and lost the ability to walk without assistance while awaiting trial in Suiyang Detention Center, but he was still admitted to prison. He was held in Mudanjiang Prison for three months before being transferred to Hulan Prison.

Mr. Lu's family requested his release on medical parole, but Hulan Prison officials said he was not sick enough.

Wang Bindong beat Mr. Lu in April 2017 for doing the Falun Gong exercises in prison. He had bleeding in his eye as a result.

During a phone call in February 2018, Mr. Lu complained to his family that he had no appetite, kept vomiting, and was suffering from swollen legs.

His family noted he was extremely thin when they visited him on April 3.

The prison called the family on April 23 to say that Mr. Lu had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and that funds were needed to cover his medical costs. His family was forced to wire 2,000 yuan to the prison, although the prison is legally obligated to provide medical care for its inmates. Not only that, the family had already paid 200 yuan to purchase medical insurance for Mr. Lu when he was first admitted to the prison.

The prison called again on April 26, saying that Mr. Lu's condition had deteriorated. His family visited him two days later and saw that his belly was very swollen. He said he had trouble falling asleep. His family deposited 700 yuan with the prison hospital, but the money was never used on Mr. Lu nor returned to his family upon his death.

The prison called a third time, on May 2, and said that Mr. Lu had liver cancer, ascites, and kidney stones. They offered to have him released on medical parole, but the Dongning Judicial Bureau didn't receive that request until May 8. The Bureau sent people to look into Mr. Lu's condition two days later.

Mr. Lu was finally granted medical parole on May 17. He wasn't able to sit, eat, or sleep comfortably during his last days. He died 12 days after his release.