(Minghui.org) Mr. Hao Wuzhong, 68, was sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2009 for his belief in Falun Dafa. He was held in the No. 11 Division of Shandong No. 1 Prison.

He was taken to the Shandong Police Hospital a few years ago, because he developed high blood pressure and had difficulty breathing. He is still being held there.

Mr. Hao was diagnosed with lung cancer. His color is poor and he is in critical condition.

His wife is very worried about him and filed a request with the prison to have him be released on bail so he can get medical treatment. He still has not been released.

Background

Mr. Hao is retired from the Binhai Development District Baking Soda Plant in Weifang City, Shandong Province. He has been repeatedly arrested and detained because of his belief, and his employer and the local police often harassed him.

Wang Yong and other officers from the Binhai Development Police Department arrested him at his home on February 28, 2009. He was interrogated at the police department for about ten days before being taken to the Shouguang Detention Center.

He was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Hanting Court in 2009. He was beaten and slapped on the face by inmate Zhao Liang on July 10, 2012, because he walked a few steps in the cell with permission from the other inmates in the cell.

Mr. Hao and other Falun Dafa practitioners went on a hunger strike two days later to protest being beaten by the inmates. The guards sided with the inmates and punished those on the hunger strike. Mr. Hao’s blood pressure rose dramatically. Fearing that he might die in prison, the guards took him to the police hospital.

Mr. Hao’s wife tried to visit him on January 19, 2013, but the prison authorities sent her away. After traveling many times to try to see her husband, she was finally was able to meet with him on January 17, 2014, two years after he was incarcerated.

Mr. Hao’s retirement pension has been suspended since he was detained in 2009. With no source of income, his wife has to work to support herself and to pay her husband's expenses in prison.