The Persecution of Mr. Guo Xiaojun by Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai

Name: Guo Xiaojun
Gender: Male
Age: in his 40s
Address: Shanghai
Occupation: Former lecturer at the Computer Science Department in Shanghai Jiaotong University
Date of Most Recent Arrest: January 7th, 2010
Most Recent Place of Detention: Tilanqiao Prison
City: Shanghai
Persecution Suffered: Detention, brainwashing, beatings, sleep deprivation, home ransacked, torture, forced labour, denial of toilet use

Practitioner Mr. Guo Xiaojun was diagnosed with retinal artery problems while being detained at the Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai. His condition has recently become worse. The prison officials notified Mr. Guo that they would take him to the Shanghai First People's Hospital and the Nanhui Prison hospital for an eye exam on May 18th. When Mr. Guo was taken out of the cell on the afternoon of May 18th, to his surprise, the police forcibly covered his head and locked him up with heavy handcuffs and fetters, with more than a dozen armed personnel to escort him. Mr. Guo realised that the so-called medical examination was just another form of intimidation and persecution.

Because of his belief in Falun Gong, Mr. Guo was sentenced to five years in prison in 2000, and was again subjected to four years of imprisonment in 2010. He is currently being detained at the Tilanqiao Prison.

On May 17th, the day before Mr. Guo was taken to the hospital, head guard Liu Wei asked Mr. Guo for his opinion. At that moment, Mr. Guo didn’t say anything. On the following afternoon, however, the police officers came unexpectedly and quickly took Mr. Guo out of the cell. Even more surprisingly, Mr. Guo found that he was surrounded by more than a dozen armed officers, and a head covering was forcibly put over his head in addition to heavy handcuffs and fetters, which was normally the way murderers or prisoners sentenced to death were treated. The police then sent Mr. Guo in a commercial vehicle.

After arriving at the hospital, Mr. Guo found that the entire eye centre was blanketed with security. There were more than 20 officers from the hospital security section and the prison.

Mr. Guo realised that the medical examination was just a setup to threaten him, and he refused to take the examination.

On June 2nd, Mr. Guo disclosed his suffering to his family members when they came to visit him. As soon as the conversation was finished, the family members were led by Liu Wei to a small room. They were met by a woman surnamed Hou, who claimed to be from the Prison Administration Bureau.

Mr. Guo’s family members questioned her as to why people taken out for medical treatment had to have their heads covered and be put in heavy handcuffs and fetters. She said, “This is a new regulation.” The family members asked when this regulation was first implemented. The woman said, “It just started.” The family members requested to see the documentation related to this regulation. The woman responded, “This is our own internal rule.”

Hou and Liu Wei also denied the family’s request to review the examination report, only claiming that Mr. Guo was fine. However, after the examination, Mr. Guo suffered from chest pain for several days in a row and his vision became blurred.

Mr. Guo’s condition has worsened further, and his family has been threatened by the authorities.

Related articles:
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/4/11/124349.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/1/22/122806.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/8/24/119587.html

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/6/9/242196.html