Mr. Dong Liantai, 45, was a farmer who lived in Zhengjiu Village, Shancheng Town, Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. After the persecution began in 1999, he went to Beijing twice to explain the truth about Falun Gong. Both times he was arrested and sent to forced labor camps. At around 7:00 p.m. on June 24, 2008, as he was riding his bike home, he was detained by Zhaopaotun Village officials He Wei and Zhao Wenhua. Officer Fan Zimin from Shancheng Town Police Station arrested him, ransacked his home, and took him to Shuangcheng City Police Department to be interrogated. During the interrogation he passed out from injuries to his face, at which time officers dragged him to press his fingerprint on a fabricated "confession," which said he was carrying 100 Falun Gong flyers. He was then detained in the Shuangcheng City Detention Center.

On July 7, 2008, officers from the Harbin City Police Department also interrogated him. Mr. Dong stated openly and in a dignified manner, "I did not disrupt the social order by riding my bike home, and those fingerprints were taken when I was unconscious. Those officers threatened that they could sentence me to forced labor for two years for the 'crime' of possessing 100 Falun Gong flyers."

Soon after that he was "trained" in Wanjia Forced Labor Camp for ten days and then taken to Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp. In order to try to force him to give up his faith, the guards tortured him by tying him to a Tiger Bench and force-feeding him mustard oil and highly concentrated salt water, which hurt his stomach and throat terribly. He was coughing severely, could not sleep, and he felt a hot, burning sensation in his chest and stomach, all of which caused him to pass out.

In less than 12 weeks, Mr. Dong was near death due to the torture. The camp administration feared he might die, so they quickly took him back to the Shancheng Town government to have his family pick him up. He felt as if his insides were burning, and his back and internal organs caused him unbearable pain. He coughed up rank lung tissue. Mr. Dong died only eight days later, at 6:40 p.m. on September 19, 2008, with a high fever and in extreme pain.