Dong Yongwei was from Dalongtang village, Longtang town, Lushunkou District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province.

At about 8pm on the night of July 21, 2000, the local police followed Dong Yongwei when he traveled to Dalian to get Teacher's Jingwen ("Eliminate Interference" article). Upon his return, even before he had a chance to step into his home, the local police station leader, Mr. Sun, policeman Zhang Henghai and another policeman who had been waiting outside his home for a long time, took him away and sent him to the Lushunkou District detention center.

Several days later someone went to visit him and saw him sitting in an iron chair with both of his hands handcuffed to the chair. He smiled at the visitor and said: "I am fine and I have already gotten used to the life here."

At 11:30am on August 2, Dong was released from the detention center. He looked very weak and threw up without end as soon as he got out of the police car. There were bloodstains on his white shirt. That night, he had a fever and experienced non-stop pain. He was too weak to speak and he could only write some short words. However, he was very clear in his mind. His family wanted to send him to the hospital but he refused to go. He couldn't fall asleep the entire night.

At noon on August 3, Dong became even weaker and he could hardly endure the pain. His family sent him to No. 210 Hospital in Dalian. The doctor couldn't find his pulse and had no way to measure his blood pressure when he was checked in. Dong still kept a clear mind at that time. One hour later Dong passed away, no more than 24 hours after he was released from the detention center.