(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Zhang Hongquan, an IT engineer at Well-Survey Company of Daqing City's Petroleum Administration Bureau, started to practice Falun Gong in 1997 and regained a healthy body.

His life, however, changed after July 20, 1999, when the Chinese Communist regime cracked down on Falun Gong. Zhang Hongquan went to his local government agencies to clarify the truth about Falun Gong, but what awaited him there was always arrest. In 2000 he was headed off by his employer on the way to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and was subsequently detained for months. They persecuted him by withholding his pay, and then he was fired.

Mr. Zhang Hongquan went to Longhugang Village, Dumeng County in November 2001to clarify the truth, but the local party secretary reported him and was taken to the Dumeng County Detention Center, where he was beaten by the police several times and began a hunger strike that lasted for more than ninety days to protest the illegal persecution. The guard force-fed him chicken feed through a dirty tube, which caused severe phthisis, and he lost control of his bodily functions. Although Mr. Zhang was on the verge of death the authorities at the detention center said they would detain him until he died. In 2002 Mr. Zhang Hongquan was sentenced to three and a half years of imprisonment.

Zhou Xin, a guard at the Dumeng County Detention Center, took Mr. Zhang to Harbin City Number Three Jail, but they refused to accept him due to his poor health until Zhou Xin bribed them.

At the Number Three Jail, Mr. Zhang refused to renounce his beliefs and was locked up in the small cell and frequently beaten by the guards. They force-fed him until his life was in danger. The jail took the opportunity to extort 30,000 yuan from his family as a so-called treatment fee.

Several Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death at the Number Three Jail, and to cover up the truth the authorities transferred some of the detained practitioners to other jails. Mr. Zhang Hongquan was thus transferred to Mudanjiang Jail, where the torture continued.

In July 2005 Mr. Zhang was released, but he'd lost part of his memory. He only recognized his family members, and he couldn't remember where he'd just been, let alone things that had happened years ago. Several practitioners from other areas suffered the same symptoms after they were released from jail. They were most likely injected with drugs that damaged the central nervous system, leading to a loss of memory function and coordination.

In September 2006, after he'd recovered somewhat, Mr. Zhang returned to work and continued to clarify the truth. He was arrested once again while he was posting Falun Gong truth materials, and was taken to Longfeng Detention Center, where he was treated inhumanly, and several months later he was sentenced three years of forced labor.

Owing to the continuous persecution he suffered over the years, Mr. Zhang's phthisis returned again in the forced labor camp. A hole formed in his lung, but he was only released after his family made several requests. Nevertheless, Mr. Zhang Hongquan finally passed away on February 24, 2007.