(Minghui.org) Mr. Yang Zixiang, a disabled veteran, was illegally arrested and sentenced to prison for visiting his fellow practitioners. His condition worsened while in prison, but prison officials would not release him unless he wrote a guarantee statement promising that he would give up Falun Gong.
Mr. Yang Zixiang, 54, lives in Sanjia Village in Shilin County, Yunnan Province. During his military career, Mr. Yang was seriously injured in an accident.
After he retired, he was given first class status as a disabled veteran, which gave him special privileges, but his injuries made life difficult and every day was a struggle.
After he began practicing Falun Gong, he recovered from his injuries and was able to live a normal life. He no longer needed medical care.
He was arrested when he visited a fellow practitioner in April 2014 and later illegally sentenced to a three-and-a-half year prison term. The Civil Affairs Administration subsequently stopped his military pension, and he was severely tortured in the detention center. When he was transferred to the Yunnan No. 1 Prison on June 9, 2015, he was too weak to walk, and had to be carried to the police car.
His weight dropped to 108 pounds while in prison. He now has trouble eating solid food. He was taken to the prison hospital, but doctors could do little. He's now blind in his left eye, and the sight in his right eye is blurred.
Members of his family visited him on March 24, 2016. They were shocked by his fragile condition. One of his relatives went to see a senior supervisor in the Prison Administration on March 28. The supervisor promised to look into the case, but he said that without Mr. Yang signing a statement promising to give up his belief in Falun Gong he would not be released.
The family member assured the supervisor that Mr. Yang would rather die than sign such a statement, as Falun Gong had given him a new life.
The supervisor became upset, and told Mr. Yang's relative not to mention Falun Gong again, and he refused to discuss the matter any further.
