Heilongjiang Man Imprisoned for His Faith Held in Solitary Confinement and Force-Fed
(Minghui.org) For refusing to renounce his faith in Falun Gong, an energy engineer serving a five-year term has been held in solitary confinement several times. Mr. Qu Yanlai was also subjected to force-feeding when he held a hunger strike to protest the persecution.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Qu Yanlai
Mr. Qu, 44, of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested at home on November 9, 2018, during a mass arrest across the province. Officers with the Dongguang Police Station and Daqing Domestic Security Office broke into his home with the assistance of a locksmith. They ransacked it and took him to the Daqing City Detention Center. The detention center guards kept his lawyer from visiting him, citing orders from “above.”
The police later submitted Mr. Qu’s case to the Ranghulu District Procuratorate, accusing him of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used by the authorities to charge Falun Gong practitioners.
Mr. Qu was tried in the Ranghulu District Court on June 14, 2019. He pleaded not guilty. Presiding judge Zhang Xinyue frequently interrupted him and didn’t let him talk about the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong.
After Mr. Qu was sentenced to five years, he appealed to the Daqing City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold his original verdict.
Because Mr. Qu refused to wear the inmate’s uniform while serving time in Hulan Prison, the guards covered his head with a black hood and put him in solitary confinement on February 25, 2021. They handcuffed him behind his back for the first seven days, causing him tremendous pain. He held a hunger strike for 15 days and was force-fed for over 10 days.
Mr. Qu was summoned to the office of the new ward director, Wang Wei, on May 31, 2021, and shocked with electric batons. After he held a hunger strike in protest of the treatment, Wang stopped torturing him, fearing that he might die in the prison.
It was recently confirmed by Minghui.org that Mr. Qu was placed in solitary confinement again on August 26, 2021. It’s not clear if he is still there.
Prior to his latest arrest, Mr. Qu was repeatedly targeted for not renouncing his faith.
He once served five years in Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai. He protested the persecution by holding a hunger strike and was force-fed on a regular basis. The brutal force-feeding made his stomach bleed on four occasions and put him in critical condition several times. At 5’11” tall, the once healthy young man became incapacitated at one point and had to use a wheelchair to get around.
Related reports:
119 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Heilongjiang Province Cities in One Day
Force-Feeding: Cruel Torture Used on Falun Gong Practitioners
Mr. Qu Yanlai Sent to Tilanqiao Prison Hospital in Shanghai; His Life Is in Imminent Danger