(Minghui.org) A Xinyang City, Henan Province, man died on April 19, 2021, less than two years after he was released on medical parole from serving an eight-year term for practicing Falun Gong. He was 80 years old.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Bai Guoxian went with five local Falun Gong practitioners to nearby Queshan County, Zhumadian City (about 70 miles from Xinyang) in March 2017 to distribute Falun Gong informational materials and hang up posters. The Zhumadian police tracked their car license plate and chased them down in Xinyang. Joint police forces from Queshan, Zhumadian, and Xinyang arrested the practitioners on March 16, 2017, ransacked their homes, and confiscated their computers, printers, and Falun Gong-related materials.
The family members of Ms. Tao Yuehua, including three under-aged children, were also arrested and taken to the police station for a brief detention.
Mr. Bai was detained at Queshan Detention Center, and the other five practitioners were held at Zhumadian Detention Center.
The Yicheng District Court of Zhumadian held two hearings, on March 22, 2017 and May 23, 2018. The presiding judge, Wang Hongyu, along with two more judges, Wang Jifeng and Yin Changhe, announced the verdicts on September 19, 2018:
Ms. Tao was sentenced to 8.5 years and fined 30,000 yuan.Ms. Yang Chengyun was sentenced to 8.5 years and fined 30,000 yuan.Mr. Bai was sentenced to 8 years and fined 26,000 yuan.Ms. Li Junhua was sentenced to 7.5 years and fined 20,000 yuan.Ms. Ding Xuemei was sentenced to 7.5 years and fined 20,000 yuan.Ms. Yang Shanping was sentenced to 2 years and fined 6,000 yuan.
After nearly a year of being imprisoned at the Zhengzhou Prison, Mr. Bai began to experience high blood pressure and difficulty breathing in the second half of 2019. He was released on medical parole and died less than two years later.
Zhengzhou Prison, also known as Xinmi Prison, is notorious for its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Most of the imprisoned practitioners are beaten, tortured, and forced to watch propaganda videos attacking Falun Gong. It was reported that more than one thousand practitioners, including professionals, intellectuals, and peasants, have been detained there. They were tortured even if they were of advanced age or physically disabled. Other practitioners were tortured into disability or persecuted to death.
Related report:
Henan Province: Six Practitioners Sentenced to Prison
Surveillance and Inspections in Zhengzhou Prison
Falun Gong Practitioners Tortured by Zhengzhou City Prison Guards
Zhengzhou Prison Continues Attempt to Make Falun Gong Practitioners Renounce Their Faith
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