(Clearwisdom.net) Note: The following is a shortened version of a longer and more detailed article that appeared on the minghui.ca website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net).

Practitioner Mr. Yang Guangyu, 50 years old, lives at No. 14 Courtyard in Zuojiazhuang, Beijing. He worked for the China New Era Group Corporation and was brutally persecuted for a long time for practicing Falun Gong. His family has been living in constant fear since the persecution began on July 20, 1999.

Yang Guangyu persisted in Dafa practice despite the persecution. He went to his hometown in Henan Province in the summer of 2001 to clarify the truth and was unfortunately reported to the police. The police arrived right after he had left and ransacked the home.

Mr. Yang went to Tiananmen Square on October 2, 2001, and unfurled a banner while shouting, "Restore Teacher’s reputation! Falun Dafa is good!" Officers from Beijing Police Department arrested him. They held him at the Fangshan County Custody Center without due process. Ten days later he was transferred to the Chaoyang Custody Center in Beijing and sentenced to 18 months of forced labor without a trial. He was once again transferred to Tuanhe Labor Reeducation Dispatch Division on November 20, 2001.

Yang Guangyu was persecuted at the Division for 40 days before being sent to Division 3 of Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp prior to January 1, 2002, where he was savagely tortured. Almost every practitioner held at that labor camp has stories soaked with tears and blood.

Mr. Yang clarified the truth to people at the Property Management Company under the China New Era Group Corporation at the end of 2004 while he was still working there. Manager Wu reported him to the head office, and pressure got him fired. His wife subsequently divorced him, and his teenage son suffered a heavy mental blow.

Yang Guangyu fled to Thailand on April 2, 2006, and sought help from the United Nations Refugee Agency.