(Minghui.org) A Changchun City, Jilin Province, resident serving a six-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong died on December 13, 2020, after the authorities kept denying his medical parole because he refused to give up his faith.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

A plainclothes officer knocked on Mr. Zhang Ziyou’s door on April 13, 2017. The officer pretended to be interested in buying his neighbor’s home and asked Mr. Zhang for his neighbor’s number. While Mr. Zhang was talking to his neighbor over the phone, the officer entered Mr. Zhang’s home and sat in the living room, where Mr. Zhang’s Falun Gong books and some informational DVDs were left on the table.

After Mr. Zhang gave his neighbor’s phone number to the officer, he said that he would come back in a few days.

On the next day, the officer returned. He said to Mr. Zhang that his neighbor had decided not to sell their house and he said he would like to know more about Mr. Zhang’s house. As they were talking, six more officers showed up and began to search Mr. Zhang’s place. His Falun Gong books, informational materials, printer, two laptops, and some copy paper were confiscated. The police also took a picture of him standing near the confiscated items.

The police prepared a copy of the confiscation list, but Mr. Zhang refused to sign it and maintained that he didn’t do anything wrong in having Falun Gong materials.

The police then forcibly took Mr. Zhang to the hospital for a physical examination. Although he was found to have high blood pressure, the police still took him to the Shuangyang No. 3 Detention Center, where he was forced to go through another round of physical examination. Confirming his high blood pressure, the detention center refused to accept him.

Mr. Zhang was taken back to the Fuzhidalu Police Station and held there overnight. The next day, his son was summoned to the police station to sign his bail release. Fearing his son would be implicated, Mr. Zhang didn’t want his son to sign the form. The police threatened that his son wasn’t responsible for his practicing Falun Gong, but if Mr. Zhang ran away to hide from the police, they would hold his son accountable. Eager to get Mr. Zhang safely home, his son signed the document.

After the High-tech Industrial Development Zone Court sentenced Mr. Zhang to six years on November 1, 2017, the police attempted to detain Mr. Zhang at the Shuangyang City Detention Center. But the detention center refused to admit him again due to his physical condition. Mr. Zhang held a hunger strike at the police station for two days and then was released.

On November 22, 2017, the police directly took Mr. Zhang to the Gongzhuling Prison. There, he suffered a stroke and was found to have diabetes. He couldn’t take care of himself or even walk on his own. His family applied for medical parole for him, but the prison repeatedly rejected their applications, openly admitting that it was simply because Mr. Zhang didn’t give up practicing Falun Gong.

After being imprisoned for three years and ten days, Mr. Zhang passed away in the prison on December 13, 2020. He was 68.

Prior to his latest sentencing, Mr. Zhang had served two years at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in 2000, when he went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Liu Yanda (刘岩大), guard of the Gongzhuling Prison: +86-18628769472Wang Junqiao (王军桥), guard of the Gongzhuling Prison: +86-18628769485Zhang Bin (张滨), political instructor of the prison: +86-18628769230

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