Heilongjiang Man Sentenced to 4.5 Years, in Serious Condition After Two-Month Hunger Strike

(Minghui.org) A Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province resident was recently sentenced to a 4.5-year prison term for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Wang Jiwu has been on a hunger strike at the Shuangcheng District Detention Center since his arrest on April 4, 2023. The guards are force feeding him every day and he is now emaciated and very weak.

Mr. Wang’s ordeal stemmed from an earlier arrest at 2 a.m. on October 28, 2019, after he was reported for putting up informational posters about Falun Gong. Also at the Shuangcheng District Detention Center, he held a hunger strike to protest, and was force fed. He was released on bail on November 8 that year and the police continued to monitor his daily life after that.

Torture reenactment: Force-feeding

Mr. Wang was arrested again on September 11, 2021 and released three days later.

Several officers showed up outside of his home in the early evening of April 4, 2023 and took him to the hospital for a physical examination. He was found to have a heart condition and high blood pressure, but they still detained him.

The police submitted Mr. Wang’s case to the Shuangcheng District Procuratorate in late April. The Shuangcheng District Court held a video hearing of his case on May 9. His family attended the hearing in the courthouse. They didn’t see his image, but heard his weak voice saying “I didn’t commit any crime,” when the judge tried to press him to plead guilty.

Mr. Wang’s family received his verdict on May 18. He was sentenced to 4.5 years with a 10,000-yuan fine. He has appealed the verdict.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Fu Jiangjun (付姜君), head of Zhanqian Police Station: [phone]Meng Hao (孟昊), deputy head of Zhanqian Police Station: [phone]