Additional Information about the Persecution and Death of Mr. Wang Donghai

Name: Wang Donghai
Gender: Male
Age: 51
Address: Pingyang Town, Fuping County, Hebei Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: January 25th, 2009
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July, 2006
Most Recent Place of Detention: Local Detention Centre
City: Fuping
Province: Hebei
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, torture, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Donghai from Qingyuan County, Hebei Province was harassed and persecuted many times by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities. On the afternoon of January 25th, 2009, Mr. Wang passed away at the age of 51, after suffering years of persecution.

Before practising Falun Gong, Mr. Wang suffered from asthma. He started practising Falun Gong in 1997 and his asthma was completely cured. Since then, he became steadfast and confident in his cultivation practice. After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20th, 1999, Mr. Wang began travelling to Beijing to speak out for justice for Falun Gong. He was arrested and detained at the local CCP headquarters. While detained, Mr. Wang was forced to stand under the scorching sun for a long period of time, holding a bench over his head. He was slapped in the face, and the authorities tried to force him to write a guarantee statement to give up Falun Gong. He was released after being extorted for 400 yuan¹.

In July 2001, Mr. Wang went to Beijing a second time. He was arrested by the local police and again detained at the police station. The police covered his head with a towel and beat him severely, causing him to fall unconscious for almost an hour. He was deprived of food and water for two days.

Later, Wang Donghai was transferred to the Qingyuan Detention Centre. During his detention there, he was locked in a small rancid cell that was shared by scores of inmates. The cell was filthy and dank. He was beaten by a group of death row inmates. Mr. Wang's family appealed to various authorities and managed to have him released on bail for medical treatment after being in detention for 25 days. The detention centre authorities extorted over 10,000 yuan from Mr. Wang's family, falsely claiming that it was for his living expenses while in detention.

After he was released, the local police frequently harassed Wang Donhai at his home. The police also put his house under surveillance and ransacked his home several times. They even broke into his house around midnight, leaving his whole family disturbed and harassed. One night, while Mr. Wang was reading a book at home, the police broke in and arrested him again. They fined him 1,000 yuan. In detention, Mr. Wang was beaten savagely and deprived of sleep, causing physical and mental trauma.

In July 2006, Mr. Wang watched a Falun Gong video and was reported to the authorities, who again extorted money from him, a sum of 5,500 yuan. They arrested him and whipped his legs with a phone cord. As a result of the beating, he could not walk and his legs were severely bruised.

Mr. Wang's parents and children suffered greatly from the ongoing police harassment. Mr. Wang was not able to do the Falun Gong exercises for a long time. His health deteriorated drastically. He passed away on January 25th, 2009, at only 51 years of age.

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/2010/5/2/222715.html