(Minghui.org)
Name: Xiang YouhaiChinese Name: 向又海Gender: MaleAge: 75City: ShaoyangProvince: HunanOccupation: Retired elementary school teacherDate of Death: June 14, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 3, 2015Most Recent Place of Detention: Wangling Prison
Mr. Xiang Youhai was dealt a heavy blow when the authorities suddenly suspended his pension in early 2022, citing a previous wrongful term he’d served for practicing Falun Gong. His health quickly declined and he passed away on June 14, 2022. He was 75.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Xiang, a retired elementary school teacher in Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, was arrested on May 3, 2015, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. Someone saw him at the county hospital at 1 p.m. the next day for a physical examination. He remained handcuffed with several people around him all the time. At around 4 p.m., Yang Manyu and Lin Mude of the Domestic Security Office broke into his home and ransacked his place. He was later held at the Dongkou County Detention Center.
The police later submitted Mr. Xiang’s case to the Dongkou County Procuratorate. His family hired lawyer Li Chunfu to represent him. When the lawyer went to the procuratorate in mid-June 2015 and urged the prosecutor to dismiss the case, the prosecutor responded that he couldn’t make the decision and had to discuss it with his supervisor.
After the lawyer left, the Domestic Security Office and 610 Office threatened Mr. Xiang’s family that they would press for a heavier prison sentence against him.
The authorities later arrested the lawyer to prevent him from defending Mr. Xiang in court. The Dongkou County Court held a secret hearing of Mr. Xiang’s case on September 14, 2015, and adjourned the session in less than one hour. Mr. Xiang was sentenced to four years in mid-November and transferred to the Wangling Prison on December 23, 2015.
Because he refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong, the prison guards and inmates often tortured him.
Three years after Mr. Xiang was released, the authorities suspended his pension, citing a new policy that barred all retirees from receiving any benefits while serving time, although the Chinese labor law has no such stipulation.
The physical and financial persecution took a toll on Mr. Xiang’s health. He passed away on June 14, 2022.
Past Persecution
Prior to his last arrest and sentencing, Mr. Xiang had been targeted multiple times in the earlier years of the persecution.
He was first arrested in 2002 and held in a brainwashing center for a month. He was forced to pay 3,000 yuan before he was released.
Mr. Xiang was taken to the brainwashing center again in July 2005. The guards ordered him to write statements to renounce Falun Gong and extorted 4,000 yuan from him.
More than twenty officers broke into Mr. Xiang’s home on July 28, 2007. They ransacked his home and took him to the Chengguan Police Station for interrogation the next day. The police hit his head with water bottles and forced him to kneel down. The torture lasted overnight until early the next morning. Another twenty practitioners were also arrested on the same day.
Being suspected of staging a demonstration during an Olympic torch relay event, Mr. Xiang was seized again on June 2, 2008, in a group arrest.
He was taken to the brainwashing center one more time on August 15, 2014.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Hu Jianzhong (胡建中), instructor, Domestic Security Office: +86-739-7231018, +86-13807395665Yin Zhiqun (尹志群), deputy head, Domestic Security Office: +86-7397231779, +86-13973566918Yang Manyu (杨满玉), instructor, Domestic Security Office: +86-739-7225586, +86-13508425519Lin Mude (林目德), director, Domestic Security Office: +86-7397100818, +86-13517425906Cai Mingqing (蔡明清), president of the Dongkou County Court: +86-13973577001Tang Liren (唐礼仁), officer in charge of Mr. Xiang’s case: +86-13973976859
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related report:
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
