(Minghui.org) Mr. Liu Qingfu was anxious to reunite with his family when he was released on September 21, 2018 after serving three years for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
The Harbin City native was surprised to see several government officials and police officers from his hometown waiting outside together with his family. They attempted to take him to Xinhua Police Station to “gather some information,” but backed off and left upon resistance from his family.
Mr. Liu's family had no time to rejoice over his release. Only in his late 60s, he appeared to be twenty years older. He was helped out of the prison by a guard. He looked pale and weak. His back became hunched, his vision was blurred and he was missing some teeth.
Mr. Liu said that repeated torture caused tremendous damage to his body. With great concern, his family took him to a hospital for a physical checkup on their way back home, but it turned out that he was so weak that many of the tests couldn't even be performed on him. The doctor recommended that he return at a later time.
Five days after Mr. Liu was released, several officers from Xinhua Police Station broke into his home, in another attempt to seize him. Seeing that he wasn't home, they shouted at his 70-year-old, ailing wife, who was home alone, and asked about his whereabouts. Upon finding out she wasn't aware of where he went, the police eventually left, leaving the elderly woman shaking in fear.
To avoid further persecution for his faith, Mr. Liu is now forced to live away from home, despite his ill health.
Mr. Liu was arrested together with three other Harbin residents on September 21, 2015 while passing out DVDs containing information about Falun Gong.
He was later sentenced to three years in prison by Daoli Court in Harbin City. The three other practitioners were also sentenced, with Mr. Gao Yulin and Ms. Liu Shuhua receiving four years, and Mr. Zhu Qiangong given three years.
The authorities frequently transferred him between three different prisons, Hulan Prison, Tailai Prison and Fengtun Prison, where he was subjected to severe torture.
During the three months he was imprisoned at Hulan Prison, he was forced to share a bed with six other inmates. He had difficulty breathing while being sandwiched by the inmates.
He developed scabies because of the poor sanitary conditions, but the prison has refused to provide him with medical treatment.
Meanwhile, the inmates often beat and verbally abused him in order to force him to write statements to renounce Falun Gong.
The 1,000 yuan in cash that his family deposited for him was taken and spent by the inmates and prison guards.
It was the coldest time in winter when Mr. Liu was transferred to Tailai Prison, but the prison guards forced him to sleep on the concrete floor for three months. The cold and dampness caused severe edema in his legs, and the prison refused to treat him. The inmates often beat him and slapped him in the face, in order to try to force him to give up his faith.
Prison guard Zheng Hui once cuffed his hands behind his back and hung him up by a rope tied to the handcuffs. Zheng slapped his face with a piece of hard rubber. His face swelled up badly.
In addition to the physical beatings, the guards also forced him to clean the bathrooms and other rooms in the prison.
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