Mr. Li Xiwang, Tianjin

Name: Li Xiwang (???)
Gender: Male
Occupation: Factory owner
Date of Most Recent Arrest: December 21, 2010
Date of Most Recent Release: Died in custody

Date of Death: July 29, 2011
Province/Municipality: Tianjin
Address: Nujiangli, Haimen Road, Hubei District
Most Recent Place of Detention: Gangbei Prison (????)

Case Details:

Mr. Li Xiwang and his wife, Ms. Chen Liyan were illegally abducted from their home on December 21, 2010. After being held at Hexi Detention Center for more than six months, Mr. Li was transferred to Gangbei Prison (formally known as Binhai Prison) to serve an 8-year sentence imposed after a sham trial. He died in custody on July 29, 2011, barely one month after arriving there.

In one instance of torture inflicted on Mr. Li at Gangbei Prison, his four limbs were shackled to bars that forced him to face the ground. He was tied in this position for 28 days. When family members asked for the cause of his death, officials replied that he “had died of a sudden illness after an emergency treatment failed to save him.” It is not uncommon for prison officials to skirt responsibility for the death of a Falun Gong practitioner in custody by claiming that the individual had “suddenly” died of an illness.

Li’s wife Chen Liyan is serving a one-year term of forced labor at Banqiao Women’s Forced Labor Camp in Tianjin.