Yu Wenjiang

Yu Wenjiang, age 56, was a resident of Siping city, Jilin province, and became a practitioner in March 1999. On December 18, 2000 he was arrested and the following day was sent to the Siping Detention Centre, it was there that Yu Wenjiang died, on January 2, 2001.

The Persecution of Yu began on December 18, as he unassumingly stepped into his home, not knowing that a police officer was secretly awaiting his arrival, at which point this police officer began beating him. Yu was then taken to the police station. Prior to this event, another Practitioner had been reported to the police; by a taxi driver for having a few disks of Dafa materials and that this practitioner had requested to be driven to Yu's home, which led to Yu's arrest. Yu's home was searched and over 1,000 copies of Dafa material and a few dozen banners of and Falun Dafa books were confiscated. While in police custody Yu refused to co-operate and therefore was beaten brutally but Yu still continued to promote Dafa. On one occasion, Yu's cell phone rang, a police officer attempted to grab the phone, however, Yu took action and quickly damaged the phone and at the same account swallowed half of his phone book. When the police asked who had made the banners, Yu said that he had and refused to disclose any further information. On December 19,2000 he was transferred to Siping Detention Centre.

Following Yu's arrest, his wife, two daughters and a son, also practitioners were arrested. His 16 year-old son was later released due to his age, but all other family members were detained at the Detention Centre.

Upon arriving at the center, Yu went on a hunger strike, using his own life to safeguard Dafa. At this detention center there were over thirty other practitioners, consequently on December 21, all of these practitioners went on a hunger strike. On December 23, in order to prevent the hunger strike the practitioners were forced fed. Although it appeared to be milk, one practitioner's account of the "milk" was that it was extremely salty and was in spring water bottles. To perform this force-feeding each practitioner's hands, feet and head were forcibly constrained by other people at the prison and their noses held, which made feeding through the mouth manageable. Yu managed to free himself from this type of force-feeding but a few days later, the practitioners were again force-fed using a tube. During the force-feeding, he thought to himself "Return the innocence to the Master. Return the innocence to Dafa". He bit the tube tightly and would not let the liquid go into his stomach. Later he was beaten.

On December 29, the police let his wife and daughters visit him, thinking they could talk Yu into eating. When Yu saw them, he asked them to urge his son to go to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa. He also said that he would continue to do the exercises in his cell. This was the last time that his family saw him alive. On January 2, 2001, at 2 a.m., Yu died in a hospital. An inmate said Yu was put behind a cage during his hunger strike and according to another practitioner, on one occasion, Yu was injected with an unknown drug, possibly an anesthetic or something similar, after he refused to co-operate with the police. Mockingly, the policemen said that the drug would probably make Yu behave himself.

On January 3, Yu's wife was brought to the crematorium from her cell to view her husband's body. They said that an autopsy would be performed on the body, arguing that it was a necessary legal procedure, whether consent was obtained from his family members or not. Yu's wife had no choice but to sign the document.