(Minghui.org) Minghui.org reported in January 2024 that a 52-year-old man serving ten years for practicing Falun Gong was in a life-threatening condition due to a hunger strike and torture. New information emerged that he was brutally force-fed and issued critical condition notices at least three times.
Mr. Hou Lijun, a resident of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, was forced to live away from home for over 20 years to avoid being persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. After being arrested on April 25, 2023, he was sentenced to 10 years and admitted to the Jinzhong Prison in early June 2023.
Mr. Hou was initially assigned to the strict management team to undergo “intensive training” aimed to force him to renounce Falun Gong. An inmate named Guo Chunlei beat a 74-year-old Falun Gong practitioner and Mr. Hou reported the incident to team lead Zhou Dongyan.
Instead of disciplining Guo, Zhou slapped Mr. Hou in the face sixteen times and instructed Guo to restrain him on a bench with his hands cuffed and ropes wrapped around his neck. Guo also sprayed pepper in his eyes three times, flicked his eyes, and slapped him in the face. For three nights in a row, he was not allowed to sleep. He started a hunger strike in protest and was placed in solitary confinement.
Mr. Hou was repeatedly deprived of sleep for days on end. He was also forced to sit on a small stool motionless for long hours, causing him to have difficulty passing urine and he suffered severe back plain. As he continued his hunger strike, the guards force-fed him. He almost suffocated during each force-feeding session.
Mr. Hou was later moved to Division Two of the prison and forced to do hard labor without pay. The guards only allowed him to spend 100 yuan on daily necessities each month and barred him from calling his family or having them visit him in person. He continued his hunger strike and was force-fed every day.
His blood pressure shot up to 220/130 mmHg at one point (a normal range is 120/80 or lower). The prison hospital issued critical condition notices twice. The guards then took him the 109 Hospital (a police hospital) on January 7, 2024. The hospital declined to admit him given his dangerous condition. The guards took him back and he went on a hunger strike again. As his life was again in danger, the guards took him back to the 109 Hospital (exact time unknown) and this time he was admitted. The 109 Hospital recently issued a critical condition notice for Mr. Hou.
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