Practitioner from Harbin City Dies as a Result of the Persecution

Mr. Liu Hongtao, 39, lived in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. He began cultivating Falun Gong in July 1999, but in less than a month, the persecution started. In order to speak out for Falun Gong, he went to Beijing to appeal in February 2000 and was detained for 15 days in the Taiping District Detention Centre. The local police extorted 2,000 yuan¹ from his family and took 500 yuan in cash from his pocket. His employer broke his contract, leaving him out of work and with no income.

In December 2000, Mr. Liu went to Beijing to appeal again and was sentenced to one year of forced labour, which he served in Changlinzi Labour Camp. He went on hunger strikes many times in the camp. Guards force-fed him with a tube, causing him extreme pain. He was beaten and cursed constantly. After he was released on December 25th, 2001, the local police kept harassing him at home, even climbing over a wall at times to get into his residence. He felt compelled to leave home to avoid being arrested. He lived a hard life away from home for eight months.

On February 22nd, 2003, Mr. Liu was arrested by Harbin City Domestic Security agents and detained in the Harbin City Second Detention Centre. He was tortured in all sorts of ways during his interrogation and injected with unknown substances. The other prisoners discovered that he had a high fever due to the injection. On May 20th, 2003, he was transferred to Nan'gang Detention Centre. His face was disfigured after he was beaten while being interrogated in the Second Detention Centre. The Nan'gang Detention Centre was reluctant to accept him at first, but they were forced to accept him by an upper level order. He was soon sentenced to three years in prison.

When he was taken to Xinjian Prison, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in both lungs, and prison officials refused to admit him. His family tried very hard to get him bailed out on medical parole, but the local police refused to give permission, giving all sorts of excuses. He was taken to the Wanjia Prison Hospital, but the doctors rejected him because his condition was beyond treatment. Nan'gang Detention Centre officials eventually forced the hospital to accept him. His family had to pay 11,000 yuan in hospital costs even though the doctors did not treat him. He was taken back to Nan'gang Detention Centre on May 13th, 2005, but had to be taken to the Police Hospital on May 16th, three days later. His family paid for that bill, as well. He was taken back to Nan'gang Detention Centre on June 20th, 2005. The next day, his family made an adamant request that he get an operation done in the Harbin City Tuberculosis and Chest Hospital. He was checked out on July 12th, 2005, and taken back to Nan'gang Detention Centre.

Mr. Liu never got better. His family tried to have him be treated, but detention centre officials delayed treatment repeatedly. He was not released a single day early, but exactly on February 21st, 2006, when his term ended. Because his treatment was severely delayed, Mr. Liu's condition did not improve after returning home, and he died at 5:30 a.m. on August 17th, 2008, survived by his elderly parents and young child.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/8/23/184607.html