(Minghui.org) A 49-year-old man who has been on hunger strike since June 2019 has had his life sustained by being force-fed in a hospital. He is scheduled to be released on November 3, 2023, after serving a 5.5-year term for practicing Falun Gong. His parents long for his release. They plan to cook his favorite food after he returns home.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhang Jing, of Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, was arrested on April 29, 2018, while distributing Falun Gong informational materials. He was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison by the Cangshan District Court on December 13, 2018. This was the second time he has been sentenced for practicing Falun Gong, following another four-year term given in 2003.
Mr. Zhang was transferred to the special ward in Fuqing Prison that held brainwashing sessions in June 2019. He was forced to squat all day, causing his legs to became swollen. To protest the mistreatment, he held a hunger strike.
When Mr. Zhang’s parents visited him on September 25, 2019, they learned that his weight had dropped from 155 pounds to about 90 pounds. They wrote to the prison officials requesting that Mr. Zhang be moved out of the special ward, but to no avail.
The prison officials notified his parents on November 7, 2019, that Mr. Zhang had been hospitalized. They also said that Mr. Zhang had asked to see his lawyer. When his parents saw him later that day, he was only skin and bones and could barely speak. They couldn’t stop crying at the sight of their son’s suffering.
His lawyer traveled from another city to visit him the next day. However, the prison officials reversed their decision and refused to grant the promised meeting. The lawyer waited for nearly two hours but was still unable to meet with Mr. Zhang.
Mr. Zhang was kept in the prison hospital after that and force-fed for nearly a year.
He was taken back to Fuqing Prison in September 2020. A guard called his mother in early October and told her that Mr. Zhang wasn’t doing well. The guard told her to write to him and persuade him to eat. He also let her speak to her son. When she asked why he was holding a hunger strike, he remained silent, obviously not wishing to say anything in front of the guard. When she asked the guard to treat him better, the guard said, “We are been very nice to him all along.”
Only a few days later, on October 10, the guard called Mr. Zhang’s mother and said that his life was in danger. The guard said they had taken Mr. Zhang to the hospital for force-feeding. But Mr. Zhang struggled very hard when they tried to insert the feeding tube into his nose. The doctor suggested giving him an anesthetic, but his family would have to give their consent.
Mr. Zhang’s mother rushed to the hospital. The guards didn’t let her see Mr. Zhang but attempted to pressure her into signing the liability waiver for the anesthetics. She said to them, “He was perfectly healthy before he was sent to prison. Now he has become like this. You should be held responsible for it. I can’t sign the waiver.”
One guard revealed that if the doctor could successfully insert the feeding tube, they could take Mr. Zhang back to the prison and force-feed him there. But Ms. Zhang’s mother insisted that he stay in the hospital.
After arguing for two hours, Mr. Zhang’s mother left the hospital without signing the document or seeing her son. The guards were exasperated and said, “We’ve wasted our time by asking you to make the trip. What you did has only harmed him.”
For the next three years, Mr. Zhang remained on hunger strike, and the prison also kept him in the hospital for force feeding. His was in critical condition a few times, but he never gave in, and remained firm in his faith, with an unimaginably strong will.
During his prison term, his parents often sighed at his empty seat during dinner time. His father is now plagued by illness and unable to go downstairs. His mother is also nearly 80 years old. They never stop worrying for him and they urge the prison to release him on time, so the family can reunite.
Related reports:
46-year-old Man on Hunger Strike in Prison to Protest Persecution, Now in Serious Condition
Imprisoned Man On Hunger Strike to Protest Abuse, Life in Danger
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