(Clearwisdom.net) On June 30, 2008, Mr. Zhou Xiangyang, an engineer at the Railroad Department's Third Investigation and Design Institute in Tianjin City, was transferred to Gangbei Prison from Liyuantou Prison, both of which are in Tianjin City. In order to protest the illegal sentence and continuous ill treatment, Mr. Zhou began a hunger strike over a month ago, and his physical condition has greatly deteriorated.

Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Zhou Xiangyang

After Mr. Zhou was illegally sentenced to nine years in prison by the Tianjin City Intermediate People's Court at the end of May 2003, he was detained for 14 months at the Hexi District Detention Center in Tianjin City.

On August 9, 2004, Mr. Zhou was transferred to the No. 1 Division of the Fifth Ward in Gangbei Prison, where he refused to cooperate with unreasonable demands from the guards for almost two years. In December 2005, he was brutally tortured for protesting the prison propaganda that slandered Teacher Li and Falun Dafa. He was locked in a solitary cell for four months in the winter and at one point almost died.

On December 9, 2006, Mr. Zhou was transferred to the Third Division of the Eighth Ward in Liyuantou Prison. Since Mr. Zhou was from Changli County, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, his family members lived far from the prison in Tianjin City. All of Mr. Zhou's immediate family are Falun Gong practitioners except for his brother-in-law. Therefore, two or three times per year, the prison staff allowed only Mr. Zhou's brother-in-law to visit Mr. Zhou in the prison. During every visit, the inmates closely monitored the two men.

Mr. Zhou's brother-in-law wasn't notified of the June 30 transfer to Gangbei Prison, but in late July, he was called to go and visit Mr. Zhou, who had by then been on a hunger strike for over a month.

At present, Mr. Zhou is extremely weak. We hope that people around the world will pay attention to Mr. Zhou's case. We also hope that Gangbei Prison will be investigated for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.