(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Yu Jinfang, 63 years old, was a retired worker from the No. 2 Auto Maintenance Factory in Gansu Province. He volunteered to help other practitioners at a Dafa practice site in Chengguan District, Lanzhou City after he began studying Dafa in 1995. Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan's group illegally arrested Yu Jinfang and several other practitioners in Lanzhou City after the persecution began on July 20, 1999. Yu Jinfang firmly believed in Teacher and Dafa and persisted in Fa study and doing the exercises. He was detained for six months and released on January 20, 2000.
Yu Jinfang went to Beijing in October 2000 to validate Dafa and seek justice for Dafa and Teacher. The police arrested him and savagely beat him at his rented home in Dongguancun, Beijing. The police shocked his face with electric batons until large blisters surrounded his mouth. He was held at Dongguancun Detention Center for 20 days, taken back to Lanzhou City and then held at the Taoshuping Detention Center for another 15 days.
Another practitioner, Mr. Yuan Jiang, was arrested on September 30, 2001 in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. The Post and Telecommunications Administrative Bureau of Gansu Province provided use of its property--a reforestation base in the Baita Mountains, Lanzhou City, following police orders, to persecute Mr. Yuan. Roughnecks gathered and brought two trucks of torture tools. Yuan Jiang was tortured for about two months. He escaped on October 26, 2001 and quietly left the torture chamber. He was exhausted after walking a short distance and hid in a cave. At night he picked turnips from local peasants' fields and spent four days this way. He eventually made it to the home of Dafa practitioner Yu Jinfang. He passed away on November 9, 2001 from numerous severe internal injuries.
The Gansu government dispatched 2,000 military police to search for Yuan Jiang. They left no stone unturned in Lanzhou City and searched every Falun Gong practitioner's home.
The police broke into Yu Jinfang's home on November 11, 2001. Lu Zhibin, an officer from Division 1 of the Chengguan District Police Department in Lanzhou City arrested Yu Jinfang, his wife Xia Fuying, their daughter, son-in-law and baby-sitter, although the last three people do not practice Falun Gong. Yu Jinfang was sent to the Yuzhong County Detention Center in Gansu Province that same day. His wife was released two days later. Their daughter and son-in-law were detained for three days and released after they were extorted of 1,000 yuan. The police sealed their home with a "no occupation permitted" notice on the door, so the family could not go home.
Yu Jinfang was tortured at the Yuzhong County Detention Center for many days. The police told his family that he was staying at the Dashaping Labor Reeducation Rehabilitation Center Hospital in Lanzhou City because his stomach was bleeding. Yu Jinfang held a hunger strike for several days to protest his unlawful detention. The guards tied him to a metal bed for four days. He was discharged from the hospital in April 2002. The police demanded 4,000 yuan from his family. His family didn't have the money. His daughters eventually paid 2,000 yuan and his workplace paid 2,000 yuan that was later deducted from his wife's salary. Yu Jinfang was then sent to the Dashaping Detention Center in Lanzhou City.
Four Dafa practitioners who had helped Yuan Jiang --Yu Jinfang, Xia Fuying, Wang Zhijun and Wen Shixue -- were secretly tried at the Chengguan District Court in early December 2002. The police refused to let anyone audit the trial. He Bo from Division 16 of the Lanzhou City Police Department led five police officers. They broke into the home of Yu Jinfang's daughter and arrested Yu Jinfang's wife, who was staying at her daughter's home at the time. They held her at the No. 2 Detention Center in Lanzhou City. Several days later the court illegally sentenced Yu Jinfang to five years in prison. His wife Xia Fuying was sentenced to three years in prison, Wang Zhijun was sentenced to five years in prison, and Wen Shixue was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison.
Yu Jinfang was mistreated at the detention center. He slept on the cold and damp floor and soon developed scabies all over his body. Pus and blood seeped from various parts of his body and he ran a persistent high fever. He was bedridden and could not eat or drink. The detention center clinic didn't notify his daughter until he showed signs of critical illness. His daughter handed over 2,000 yuan to the Dashaping Labor Reeducation Rehabilitation Center Hospital officials. Several people helped Yu Jinfang to the hospital in March 2003. Within a month he was taken back to the detention center. He was transferred to a hospital after his family made numerous requests and had another 4,000 yuan extorted from them.
Yu Jinfang was held at the Division for the Old and Disabled at the Lanzhou Prison. He spent five years in prison and became physically and psychologically devastated. The illegitimate sentence imposed on Mr. Yu expired in November 2006. His family took him home on November 13, 2006. He was emaciated, extremely weak and could not eat anything. He vomited frequently. He said the condition had started two months before his release from prison. His wife, who was released from prison three days before him, asked, "Don't you have anything to say to me?" He smiled but didn't say anything.
It became increasingly difficult for Yu Jinfang to eat, and he vomited even more frequently. He passed away at 6:00 p.m. on November 25, 2006. His family is left with many unanswered questions.