(Minghui.org) Mr. Hua Lianyou, 50, was an accountant for a company that manufactures cathode ray tubes (CRT). He began to practice Falun Gong in the 1990s, and lived by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. People spoke kindly of him and said that he is good and honest.

Arrested in 2001 and 2012

Since the Chinese Communist Party began the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Hua has been telling people the facts about Falun Gong. He was arrested in 2001 and was illegally sentenced to five years in Tianjin No. 1 Prison.

Mr. Hua was released in 2006 and was mentally disoriented as a result of persecution. He continued to practice Falun Gong and quickly recovered. He was arrested again on April 24, 2012, and went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution on May 23.

Officials from the Beichen District Court sentenced Mr. Hua to a seven-year prison term during a secret trial in September 2012. He was taken to Binhai Prison, formerly called Gangbei Prison, in October 2012.

He has now been on a hunger strike for more than 500 days.

Mr. Hua in critical condition

Prison authorities have denied Mr. Hua any contact with his family since August 12, 2013. When his family members called the prison in September 2013, no one answered the phone.

On October 14, 2013, Mr. Hua's family members went to Binhai Prison to try to see him. Gao Peizhi (badge No.1208326), a guard at the No. 5 Prison District, said that because Mr. Hua's wife, Ms. Tian Zongli, practices Falun Gong, she was not allowed to visit her husband. However, Ms. Tian insisted that she has the right to see him. The guards videotaped the conversation and several officials from the Prison Political Section were present.

After much discussion, it was decided that only Mr. Hua's daughter could see her father. Upon seeing him, she said that he had to be held up by three inmates. He was very thin and looked weak. He was able to say that he was being forced-fed and his feet were shackled to prevent him from doing the Falun Gong exercises.