(Minghui.org) Mr. Tang Jian, a Falun Gong practitioner from Chongqing City, was illegally sentenced to 3 years in prison and sent to Yongchuan Prison in May 2012. His health quickly deteriorated while in detention, alarming his wife and other family members. Mr. Tang appeared very feeble and had difficulty breathing and walking. When his wife, Ms. Li Xiao, requested the prison authorities to provide medical treatment, she was threatened and intimidated. No one has heard from her since her last visit to the prison on July 24, 2012. Her family and friends are gravely concerned for her and her husband's safety.

Mr. Tang Jian

Mr. Tang's wife, Ms. Li Xiao

Mr. Tang, 37, a professor from Southwest Petroleum University, is from the Nanan District of Chongqing City. He was arrested by police on November 1, 2011, and held in the Nanan District Detention Center. He was tried by the Nanan District Court on February 13, 2012, but no verdict was reached due to insufficient evidence. Following another court hearing on March 16, however, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Mr. Tang was transferred to Yongchuan Prison at the end of May 2012. When his family visited him on June 17, he looked gaunt and thin. When they visited him again on July 9, he appeared even thinner and his feet were swollen. He walked very slowly, like an elderly person, and looked tired and weak. It was strenuous for him to talk; he had difficulty breathing and could not keep up the conversation even during the short, 30-minute visit. He appeared very feeble, and his face looked sallow. His family wondered if his internal organs had been damaged. Prior to his arrest, Mr. Tang had been a very energetic young man, full of life. Within this short period of time, however, his appearance transformed into that of a dying old man.

With the excuse of treating ringworm, the prison authorities also didn't allow Mr. Tang to wear pants, even though his family had brought a pair of loose beach pants for him. The family suspected that the prison's motive was deliberate and not at all related to ringworm treatment--the guards sought to humiliate Mr. Tang and weaken him psychologically in order to “transform” him and make him renounce his belief in Falun Gong. The family also learned that the guards had deprived him of sleep.

When Mr. Tang's wife, Ms. Li Xiao, requested the prison authorities to send Mr. Tang to a hospital for diagnosis and treatment, prison wardens from Division No.10 threatened her, saying that the prison was in close contact with the South Bank District 610 Office and that she would be arrested if she asked for hospital examination or treatment again.

On July 18, 2012, knowing that the prison authorities wouldn't provide any medical treatment for her husband, Ms. Li went directly to the South Bank 610 Office. Prison guard Tang Jun from Division No. 10, along with other officials from the local community, came there to intimidate her.

On July 24, 2012, Ms. Li went to Yongchuan Prison by herself. She demanded that the prison authorities stop persecuting her husband and give him medical treatment. No one has heard from her since. Her family and friends are very worried about her safety and hope that the international community will intervene on her and her husband's behalf.

Many Falun Gong practitioners are still being detained in Yongchuan Prison, facing physical and mental torture every day for holding on to their faith. At present, they are being detained in Divisions No. 10, 11, and 12.

Parties involved in the persecution:
Yongchuan Prison: 86-23-49890547 (Phone); 86-23-49890547 (Fax)
Hu Maping, warden at Yongchuan Prison
Yang, Liming, deputy warden
Zhao Youhua, deputy warden
Wang Dong, deputy warden (police badge number: 5016617)
Li Juan, deputy director of Yongchuan Prison's Political Department
Wang Hanwei, section chief of Yongchuan Prison's Education Department
Wu Hongxian and Fu Benping, personnel of the prison's Correction Center
Tang Jun, Gu Xiaolin, Zhou Qiang, and Chen Jusheng, prison guards of Division No. 10 of Yongchuan Prison

Zheng Bo, section chief of the Criminal Enforcement & Supervision Department, Procuratorate of Xinsheng District, Chongqing City

Please refer to the original Chinese text for additional parties involved in the persecution.