(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: This is part of a series of death cases newly translated by the English site of Minghui.org. These cases have long been published on the Chinese site of Minghui.org but have not been translated until now.
Name: Chang LizhongChinese Name: 常力中Gender: MaleAge: 50City: QinhuangdaoProvince: HebeiOccupation: RadiologistDate of Death: 1/26/2019Date of Most Recent Arrest: 12/11/2015Most Recent Place of Detention: Qinhuangdao Detention Center
Mr. Chang Lizhong of Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, became incapacitated after being tortured in custody in 2015. He struggled with failing health until he passed away on January 26, 2019. He was 50.
Mr. Chang, a radiologist at the Qinhuangdao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, became interested in Falun Gong in 2001 after realizing the Chinese communist regime staged the Tiananmen Square self-immolation to discredit the practice. He read Falun Gong’s teachings and was drawn to them, thus becoming a practitioner himself.
After hospital officials discovered that Mr. Chang was practicing Falun Gong, they had him arrested in October 2003. He was held in the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp for two weeks.
Mr. Chang was arrested again in March 2006 after his manager convinced him to return to the hospital in the middle of the night. While being held in the Qinhuangdao First Detention Center, he was beaten and force-fed. After six days of torture, he had severe swellings on his body, hands, feet, and head. He was unable to talk, walk, or eat. On the verge of death, he was released.
After recovering for over a month, he returned to work on May 8, 2006, only to be arrested three days later by 610 Office agents and given a 1.5-year term in the Baoding Forced Labor Camp.
The police raided Mr. Chang’s home on May 30, 2008, claiming “security issues” for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They confiscated his computer, TV, speaker, and Falun Gong books. He was first held in the Qinhuangdao Second Detention Center and then transferred to the Qinhuangdao First Detention Center. He developed several medical conditions in custody and was released on June 20.
Several officers attempted to arrest Mr. Chang again in December 2008. He was severely injured in the struggle, and his ears oozed pus for a long time.
Mr. Chang’s last arrest was on December 11, 2015. Although the police later realized that he wasn’t the terrorist they were looking for, they still held him in custody and submitted his case to the procuratorate. He held a hunger strike in the Qinhuangdao City Detention Center to protest and was force-fed, beaten, and pepper-sprayed.
Mr. Chang suffered extremely high blood sugar and heart failure after eight days on a hunger strike, so the detention center released him. He fell into a coma at home. He had frequent hallucinations and couldn’t eat.
Although he recovered a bit later on, he lost the ability to walk or take care of himself. After struggling with the conditions for years, he died on January 26, 2019.