(Minghui.org) A physician mistaken for a criminal suspect is still struggling to recover from the complications of an 8-day hunger strike he held to protest his wrongful detention last December.

Dr. Chang Lizhong from Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province was seized outside his apartment building on December 11, 2015. He soon realized that the police mistook him for someone else suspected of plotting a criminal act.

Dr. Chang protested that as a Falun Gong practitioner, he'd never do anything to harm anyone.

The interrogating officers also realized that the arrest was a mistake, but they refused to release Dr. Chang now that they knew he practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted in China.

They charged him with “using a cult to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used by the Chinese Communist Party in its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Dr. Chang protested the wrongful detention by starting a hunger strike, only to be force-fed and sprayed with chili pepper water by the guards at Qinhuangdao Detention Center.

Eight days after the hunger strike, Dr. Chang was in critical condition as his blood sugar went down to 20, and he began to exhibit signs of organ failure. He was extremely weak, could not keep food down, had trouble falling asleep, and his whole body ached. Only then was he released on medical parole.

It has been two months since his release on December 19, but he still cannot stand or walk, and he is totally dependent on his family for his care. In the meantime, the police refuse to return his car and other personal belongings confiscated during his arrest. They have threatened him with further prosecution.