(Minghui.org) The Chinese communist regime violated its own constitution by having Mr. Yang Zhenlu and his wife from Wanquan County, Hebei Province, arrested before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Many other Falun Gong practitioners were also illegally arrested during that period to keep them from revealing the gruesome details of the persecution to foreign visitors.
Mr. Yang was sentenced to six years in prison shortly after being arrested. He was severely tortured in the Jidong Prison in Tangshan. On March 1, 2013, when he was on the verge of death, he was granted medical bail. This common practice is routinely used by the prisons to avoid criminal investigation into inmate deaths resulting from prison abuse.
Mr. Yang passed away on June 7, 2013, at the age of 57, from the mistreatment he endured in the prison. His wife is currently incarcerated in the Shijiazhuang Women's Prison. She has not been informed of his death.
Mr. Yang suffered from constant headaches and leg pains before he started practicing Falun Gong in 1996. He became healthy and easy to get along with because of the practice. From then on, he was known around town as a very nice guy.
After the communist regime began to suppress Falun Gong in 1996, Mr. Yang and his wife were compelled to exercise their constitutional rights and went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. They were arrested many times for their faith and forced to pay large amounts of money in fines. The couple was also repeatedly threatened and harassed by the police.
The first time Mr. Yang appealed for the right to practice Falun Gong, in December 2000, he was imprisoned for 12 months in the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp.
The local police also ransacked the couple's home and took their TV, washer, sofa, queen-size bed, sewing machine, chest, stove, dining table, coffee table and clothes. These items were confiscated simply because the couple would not renounce their faith in Falun Gong. Their children were shocked and confused; they blamed their parents for what happened, causing additional stress for the couple.
Shortly before the Beijing Olympic Games, in the late evening of July 23, 2008, local authorities arrested more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners in Wanquan County. Mr. Yang and his wife were among those arrested.
After Mr. Yang was sent to the Jidong Prison, he developed diabetes, tuberculosis, and lost his vision. He became extremely frail and thin. The prison did not notify his children until he was dying.
Mr. Yang was in such poor health because of the abuse and torture he was subjected to at the prison. He passed away on June 7, 2013, only a few months after released on medical bail.
Ten years ago, foreign investors thought their money would help modernize China and promote democracy and human rights there. Five years ago, China, hosted the Beijing Olympic Games.
Mr. Yang died because the Chinese regime has not changed its nature, despite the facade of economic prosperity.