Mr. Yang Wanming Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Exposing the Persecution

Name: Yang Wanming
Gender: Male
Age: Around 50
Occupation: Communication services staff member
Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 15th, 2009
Most Recent Place of Detention: Baoanzhi Prison No. 5 Ward in Jalaid, Inner Mongolia
City: Jalaid
Province: Inner Mongolia
Persecution Suffered: Home ransacked, detention, forced demobilization

Mr. Yang Wanming, around 50 years old, joined the army in 1977 and was subsequently posted to head the Beijing Military Zone Communications Section. He was demobilized for practising Falun Gong. He later worked in the Hulunber Mobile Communication Services Company in Inner Mongolia.

After he began practising Falun Gong, he recovered from rectal prolapse, gastrointestinal bleeding, and other illnesses. In 2009, he exposed the persecution of Falun Gong and was consequently sentenced to seven years in prison. He was detained in the No. 5 Ward of Baoanzhi Prison in Jalaid.

Recovering from Illnesses After Practising Falun Gong

Yang Wanming joined the army in 1977. While he was in the army, he had rectal prolapse, gastrointestinal bleeding, and fungal nail infection. These diseases left him in pain every day. As head of the communications section, Mr. Yang had to often attend banquets (with excessive food and wine). His condition was consequently aggravated and he frequently had intestinal bleeding. This illness caused him a lot of pain and he had to be very careful with his diet. He could not even eat fruit because it would cause severe gastric pains. He sometimes lost consciousness due to the excruciating pain. He also passed blood and he was very weak. Due to the fungal nail infection, his finger and toenails curled up and his heels cracked and bled.

In December 1997, Yang Wanming returned home to see his mother, who is a practitioner. His mother introduced him to the practice, due to the miraculous health benefits. After practising for more than a month, the illnesses that plagued Mr. Yang for many years vanished. Colleagues at his workplace were amazed by his recovery. Due to his improved health, Mr. Yang performed significantly better at work and his superiors were very happy with his performance.

Persecuted by the Communist Regime

In 1999, Mr. Yang's supervisor intended to promote him to division head, but because the regime had begun to suppress Falun Gong, his promotion was put aside.

After the persecution began on July 20th, 1999, because Yang persisted in the practice, he was demobilized. His superiors tried to put in a good word for him, but the regime had decreed that a Falun Gong practitioner cannot be in the armed forces. Finally in January 2000, Yang was demobilized and sent home. He stayed at home for more than two months before accepting a position at Hulunber Mobile Communication Services Company.

In March 2009, documents exposing the Hulunber City Political and Judiciary Committee's involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong were publicized overseas. Over 200 people who were suspected of taking part in the meeting were subsequently investigated by the State Secrets Bureau and Inner Mongolia Police Department. Mr. Yang came under strict surveillance after having attended the meeting. On the afternoon of March 15th, Mr. Yang was arrested in his office, and his office was also closed down. After his arrest, Yang was detained in the Hailar City Detention Centre. Without his family being notified, he was secretly tried in August 2009 and sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. When his family learned of his sentence, they appealed multiple times, and finally, after tremendous effort and hardship, his prison sentence was reduced to seven years. Yang is currently detained in the No. 5 Ward of Baoanzhi Prison. During his detention, his home has been ransacked by police several times. In prison, he was also pressured to give up his practice.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/7/11/243779.html