(Minghui.org) Mr. Lu Guanru was sentenced to seven years in prison on July 1, 2019, for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999.
The 67-year-old man has been in serious condition after months of being on a hunger strike and numerous force-feedings. His family learned in recent days that he has been secretly admitted to Hulan Prison on July 30 without their knowledge after his appeal was rejected on July 23.
Mr. Lu, a resident of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested on November 9, 2018, in a sweep of Falun Gong practitioners in both Daqing and Harbin City, the capital of Heilongjiang Province.
His latest arrest was preceded by two earlier arrests in 2000, which led to 13 months of detention and relentless torture at a forced labor camp. His workplace fired him shortly after his first arrest and refused to process his retirement application when he later reached retirement age.
Having no steady income and being forced to move from place to place to avoid being arrested again, Mr. Lu and his family have suffered tremendously. His latest arrest dealt another blow to his already struggling family.
Mr. Lu went on a hunger strike while he was held at Daqing City Detention Center following his latest arrest. The guards force-fed him, which caused him to vomit blood and suffer heart failure. He was on the verge of death and resuscitated at the hospital several times.
During his hunger strike, he wrote letters to different government agencies to appeal against the persecution, but he never received any reply.
The Ranghulu District Procuratorate charged him with “disrupting public order” and submitted his case to Ranghulu District Court on March 30, 2019.
He appeared in court on June 6, 2019, and was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 40,000 yuan on July 1.
The Daqing City Intermediate Court upheld his sentence without a hearing on July 23.
Despite his physical condition, the detention center sent him to Hulan Prison on July 30 to serve time, without notifying his family.
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