Cancer-stricken Elderly Man Imprisoned for His Faith Denied Medical Parole

(Minghui.org) A Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, man with late-stage colon cancer and liver cancer was recently denied medical parole because he refused to renounce his faith in Falun Gong.

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

Mr. Teng Yuguo, in his 70s, was taken to Dongling Prison in 2021 to serve a five-year term for practicing Falun Gong. Because he refused to renounce his faith, the prison denied him visits from his family and also limited the amount of cash they could deposit for him to 100 yuan per month. He was always starving and couldn’t afford to buy extra food.

Mr. Teng’s family learned in early November 2022 that about six months before he had developed colon cancer, which had already spread to the liver. When they were finally allowed to visit him, they were devastated to see the once-healthy man sitting in a wheelchair, emaciated. His legs were severely swollen. He was wearing a diaper due to urinary incontinence.

At his family’s insistence, Mr. Teng was taken to the hospital. The doctor opened him up, only to see that tumors had filled his intestines and were obstructing his bowels. The tumors had also spread to his liver. The doctor said there was nothing more he could do and estimated that he only had a few months left.

Now Mr. Teng couldn’t eat and relied on IVs to sustain his life. He didn’t have bowel movements, either.

Mr. Teng’s family applied for medical parole for him. The prison originally approved it, but later walked back the decision, with the excuse that he refused to renounce Falun Gong.

Mr. Teng is still in the intensive care unit in the hospital, with prison guards watching him around the clock. His daughter and wife take turns caring for him. The prison has ordered the family to pay his medical expenses, which run about 3,000 yuan a day. The family turned in the only 6,000 yuan they had. His wife, who had lung surgery last year and was still recovering, had a hard time borrowing money for him. The prison threatened to take Mr. Teng back to the prison if they couldn’t pay for his hospital stay.

Since the onset of the persecution in 1999, Dongling Prison has actively followed the persecution policies. Those who refuse to renounce Falun Gong are held in solitary confinement and otherwise tortured.

In addition to depriving the practitioners of sleep or poking them if they close their eyes, the inmates also slap them in the face, beat them, and push toothpicks into their nails or private parts. In an extreme torture, they connected the practitioners’ private parts with metal wire and then ran electricity through the wire.

The inmates have also force-fed the practitioners human waste and doused them with ice-cold water. At meals, the practitioners were given very small corn buns, two pieces of pickled vegetables, and vegetable soup that tasted like wastewater used to scrub the pots.

At least six practitioners have died due to torture in prison. They are Mr. Zhang Youjin, Mr. Zheng Shoujun, Mr. Jin Junbo, Mr. Shao Minggang, Mr. Li Zhendong, and Mr. Liu Xiyong.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Tian Zhi (田志), head of Dongling Prison: [phone]Lin Zhimin (林志敏), director of Liaoning Province Justice Bureau: [phone], [phone]Gao Changsheng (高长生), director of Liaoning Province Prison Administration Bureau: [phone]

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

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Man in His 70s in Critical Condition with Cancer While Serving Time for His Faith

Punched by Police During His Arrest, 67-year-old Man Faces Trial for His Faith

66-year-old Man Arrested a Second Time in Six Months for His Faith

How Falun Gong Practitioners Are Tortured in Shenyang City’s Dongling Prison