Aircraft Engineer in Critical Condition Denied Medical Parole, Dies in Prison

A 47-year-old aircraft engineer died on February 16, 2020 while serving two years for practising Falun Gong.

Mr. Hu Lin, a Shenyang City, Liaoning Province resident, had been in critical condition after months of being on a hunger strike and being tortured, but he was denied medical parole on the grounds that he refused to renounce his faith.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Hu was arrested on May 23, 2019 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.

He started a hunger strike to protest the persecution after he was sent to Faku County Detention Centre. He was tied in bed in a spread-eagle position and force-fed. The guards left the feeding tube in his stomach in order to increase his suffering.

Mr. Hu was sentenced to two years by Faku County Court on June 20, 2019 and sent to Kangjiashan Prison on October 30, 2019.

When Mr. Hu’s family visited him in the prison on November 7, 2019, he was emaciated. He also lost sensation in his legs and suffered multiple organ failure.

His family demanded medical attention for him, but the prison authorities refused and blamed Mr. Hu for shouting “Falun Dafa is good” after he was taken there. The prison guards said they wouldn’t release him even if he died.

In the next few months, the prison authorities repeatedly told Mr. Hu’s family that they wouldn’t bear responsibility for his life, as he was still on a hunger strike and shouting out “Falun Dafa is good.”

Mr. Hu’s family went to different government agencies to seek justice for him, but the local prosecutor said he wouldn’t consider who should bear responsibility until Mr. Hu was dying; another officer, Liu Xing, who was overseeing the prison, also refused to meet with them.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus during the Chinese New Year, the prison prohibited his family from visiting or even calling him.

On the evening of February 14, 2020, the prison called Mr. Hu’s older brother, Mr. Hu Shuang, and said that Mr. Hu had been sent to the hospital for resuscitation.

His family rushed to the hospital overnight and saw him being treated in the intensive care unit.

Mr. Hu passed away around 1 p.m. on February 16.