Elderly Man Dies Soon After Daughter’s Second Prison Sentence, a Final Blow in the Relentless Persecution of His Family

(Minghui.org)

Name: Yu XinmaoChinese Name: 宇欣茂Gender: MaleAge: 82City: WeifangProvince: ShandongOccupation: N/ADate of Death: July 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 13, 2009Most Recent Place of Detention: Changle Detention Center

Mr. Yu Xinmao was dealt a heavy blow when his daughter was sentenced to prison in April 2022 for practicing their shared faith in Falun Gong. He eventually succumbed to the constant harassment and mental pressure that had plagued him for 23 years since the Chinese communist regime launched the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. He was 82. 

Mr. Yu’s passing in July 2022 devastated his 84-year-old wife. She fell ill and became bedridden on July 18. 

Father and Son in Hiding, Family Members Harassed

A dozen officers went to Mr. Yu’s home on February 7, 2009 to arrest him. As he escaped, the officers arrested his son, Mr. Yu Jianhua, instead. After holding him at the county detention center for one month, the authorities took the younger Mr. Yu to the Weifang Brainwashing Center and also extorted 5,000 yuan from his family. Mr. Yu escaped later on and the police began to harass his family.

At 5 a.m. on August 24, two officers led by police chief Qiu Yubo of the Wutu Police Station came to Mr. Yu Jianhua’s home and asked his wife where he was. As she refused to answer, the police slapped her in the face and hit her on the chest. She rebuked them for beating her and the police responded, “Who saw me beat you?” Her six-year-old son was terrified by the police violence.

Two days later at 8 p.m. on August 26, the police went to the elder Mr. Yu’s home to look for him. It happened that his wife’s two nephews, Mr. Yu Lihua and Mr. Yu Lijun, were visiting her. The police arrested all three of them and took them to the police station. As they also refused to reveal Mr. Yu’s whereabouts, the police beat Mr. Yu Lihua. They were released at 6 p.m. the next day.

The police went to Mr. Yu Jianhua’s home again at 5 a.m. on August 30. As his wife still refused to reveal his whereabouts, the police whipped her legs, causing bruises in the size of a tennis ball. Police chief Qiu threatened to make her life miserable and bar her son from going to school or getting a job if she didn’t reveal her husband’s whereabouts. 

In another attempt to find out the father and son’s whereabouts, Qiu arrested Mr. Yu Lijun at 7 p.m. on September 1. They beat him and brought him to the police station. They stripped his clothes and chained him to a metal chair. Four officers hit him with fly swatters and a newspaper roll. They also pulled his hair, eye lashes and beard. Then they taped his mouth shut and hit his ribs, stomach, fingers and knees with a hard stick. Other torture included inserting burning cigarettes into his nose, spraying tear gas in his eyes and mouth, and shining a bright light into his eyes. The officers also sexually assaulted him by pinching his nipples and testes and hitting his private part with a broom. The torture lasted from 7: 30 p.m. until 3 a.m.

On the next day, officer Yu Jianjun continued to beat Mr. Yu Lijun to force him to divulge the whereabouts of his uncle and cousin. Mr. Yu Lijun rolled on the ground in pain. After the police became exhausted from the beating, they chained him to a metal chair. Around noon, during an opportunity to use the restroom, he managed to escape. 

Father Sentenced to Seven Years

Mr. Yu Xinmao was arrested on September 13, 2009 and later sentenced to seven years. 

When the police took him to the Jinan Prison on January 6, 2010, he was rejected admission due to his health condition. Yet Guo Xingjun of the 610 Office refused to release him, but incarcerated him at the Changle Detention Center. 

In 2015, with the tidal wave of lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution, Mr. Yu also filed a criminal complaint against Jiang. For this, the police started to harass him several times a year.

Daughter Twice Jailed

In June 2019, Mr. Yu Xinmao’s daughter, Ms. Yu Meixia, a vocational school teacher, was arrested for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was later sentenced to 15 months. 

When Ms. Yu took up Falun Gong, her son was still a teenager. Having witnessed the constant arrests and beating of his mother over the years, the teen was traumatized. He became withdrawn and developed depression. He had to quit school and stay at home, relying on his family for care. During this time, the police continued to harass his maternal grandparents, who helped care for him during his mother’s incarceration. 

The heavy caregiving duty and mental distress from the harassment took a toll on Mr. Yu Xinmao’s health. He fell ill and became bedridden. 

On February 4, 2022, shortly after Ms. Yu was released, she was arrested again for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police harassed her father again and took pictures of him, even when he was incapacitated and couldn’t talk anymore. His 84-year-old wife struggled to care for him and their grandson during this time. 

In March 2022, she went to the police department to inquire about her daughter’s situation. She urged the police to release her due to her family’s situation. The officer on duty asked her to submit a written letter of the request. When she turned in the letter days later, the police intimidated and verbally abused her. She went there a few more times, only to face escalated verbal abuse by the police. In the end, they carried the elderly woman out of the police station and threw her on the street. They also threatened to smash her tricycle. 

After she returned home, her other son, who didn’t practice Falun Gong, blamed her for causing trouble for him, as the police had harassed him and threatened him with his family’s livelihood if his mother continued to seek his sister’s release. 

The Qingzhou Court held a hearing of Ms. Yu’s case on April 27 and later sentenced her to 3.5 years. She appealed the verdict with Weifang City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold her original verdict. Grief-stricken over her sentencing, her father passed away three months later and her mother became incapacitated.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Guo Qinghua (郭清华), director of Political and Legal Affairs Committee: [phone]Guo Zhiwei (郭志潍), head of Changle Police Department: [phone]Gao Liang (高亮), director of Domestic Security Office: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)

Related report:

Teacher Sentenced for Her Faith the Second Time in Less Than Three Years