(Minghui.org) Two months before Mr. Gao Yumin was released after serving a three-and-a-half-year prison term for his faith in Falun Gong, prison authorities injected him with a high dose of a nerve-damaging drug that almost killed him.
Six months after Mr. Gao was released, he is still unable to take care of himself and his intelligence is similar to that of a three-year-old. Officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and 610 Office are monitoring his family closely and have threatened them not to disclose Mr. Gao's ordeal to the public.
According to individuals familiar with the situation, authorities detained Mr. Gao in solitary confinement and ordered inmates to savagely beat him following the injection. Mr. Gao began to lose consciousness, his body stiffened, and he was on the verge of death.
The prison rushed him to the hospital where he remained unconscious for nine days. He had internal bleeding throughout his body, his stool was black, and his limbs spasmed.
When his family questioned the prison about the drastic decline of his health, the prison blamed his hunger strike.
Mr. Gao’s family sent a sample of his urine for drug testing based on a hint from a police officer who was secretly protecting Falun Gong practitioners. Results showed that, even more than a week after the injection, the concentration of the drug in his body was high enough to poison him.
Prison authorities panicked when they heard about the urine test. They began to negotiate with Mr. Gao's family about a financial settlement, only on condition that they take Mr. Gao home immediately and not disclose the drug test to the public.
Mr. Gao's family refused to take him home and insisted that the prison provide medical treatment. The prison then approved his hospitalization. His family stayed at the hospital around the clock, fearing more harm being done to Mr. Gao.
When Mr. Gao’s term expired, the police sent him home.
Mr. Gao's wife is mentally ill and unable to take care of her husband, so he now stays with his mother who is in her 80s. His brothers and sisters have hired someone to take care of him.
Because of his belief, Mr. Gao was fired from his job and has had no income. His family is sharing the cost of his treatment and living expenses.
The police and neighborhood committee have obtained the family’s phone numbers, their ID numbers, and license plate numbers and are closely monitoring them.
From Perpetrator to Practitioner
Mr. Gao Yumin worked at the Police Department in Fuxin City, Liaoning Province and had participated in the persecution of Falun Gong. Through his interaction with Falun Gong practitioners, however, he was deeply stirred by their kindness and perseverance, which was entirely opposite from the propaganda spread by the communist regime.
After getting to know more about Falun Gong, he began to admire the practitioners for refusing to give up their faith despite the severe persecution. Eventually, he began to practice Falun Gong himself.
Mr. Gao lived according to Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and quit many bad habits.
Persecuted for His Faith
Inspired to let more people know about Falun Gong and the persecution, Mr. Gao began distributing Falun Gong informational materials around town. On November 6, 2013, he was arrested while distributing flyers and taken to a detention center.
There, he went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was subjected to savage beatings, force-feeding, and infusions of salt water.
After two months of abuse, he became very weak and was released on medical parole.
He resumed his Falun Gong practice at home and recovered within a month. On February 21, 2014, he was arrested again and sentenced to five years in prison on March 14, 2014. He appealed, and the sentenced was reduced to three and a half years.
Despite the fact that his kidneys, liver, and heart were failing due to a hunger strike to protest the unjust sentence, he was taken to the prison and continued to suffer constant beatings and other torture.
Anxiously anticipating his return, his family was shocked to find that the prison had injected him with an almost lethal drug dose, just two months before his term was to expire.
Previous reports:No Medical Parole Without Renouncing Falun GongDying Outstanding Police Officer Detained at Shenyang PrisonPolice Officer Sentenced for Informing Others about the Persecution of Falun GongFuxin City Intermediate Court Tries Five Falun Gong Practitioners