Deaths of 13 Falun Gong Practitioners Reported in April 2021

Based on an Original Report from Minghui.org

In the month of April 2021, 13 Falun Gong practitioners were reported deceased as a result of the persecution of their faith. This brings the confirmed death cases in 2021 to 40.

Among the 13 newly confirmed deaths, three cases occurred in 2020, two cases in January and February 2021, and eight cases in March and April 2021.

Overview

The 13 deceased practitioners came from 11 provinces and municipalities, with Guizhou and Heilongjiang each reporting two cases. Eight of the practitioners were women and excluding four practitioners whose ages were unknown, the ages of practitioners ranged between 53 to 83, with an average age of 68.

Three of the practitioners died in prisons, including a 57-year-old woman serving 11.5 years, a retired colonel serving 7.5 years, and a 69-year-old man serving a 7-year term. An 83-year-old man sentenced to seven years died hours after he was taken back home on oxygen.

Some practitioners’ deaths resulted from prolonged harassment, incarceration, torture, and drug administration. A Shanghai woman was detained in a psychiatric hospital over 20 times and became delirious after being injected with toxic drugs. A former history teacher developed a severe heart condition leaving him unable to do any physical work before he died at 53.

Below is a snapshot of some cases.

Deaths in Custody

Retired Colonel Dies in Prison, Family Suspects Foul Play

Mr. Gong Piqi’s family received a call from a prison guard on the evening of April 12, 2021, and was told that the 66-year-old retired colonel in Qingdao City, Shandong Province had just been taken to the hospital for resuscitation.

Moments later, the prison guard called again and said Gong, who was serving a 7.5-year term in Jinan Prison (also known as Shandong Province Prison) for practicing Falun Gong, had died of a sudden stroke.

When Gong’s family went to the hospital the next morning, the doctor and prison authorities refused to let them see his body. With his family’s strong protest, Gong’s older brother and nephew were finally allowed to look at his body, under the agreement of not taking photos or videos.

Gong’s head was injured and swollen and there was blood in his ears, according to his brother.

During the one and half years before Gong’s death, the prison never allowed his family to visit him, citing the pandemic as the reason. His family said they had no knowledge about his health situation and whether he was tortured in the prison.

According to the surveillance video provided by the prison guards, Gong fell ill and stayed in bed on the evening of his death. A prison doctor had come to take his blood pressure, but the doctor left without providing any treatment to him. At around 8:32 p.m., Gong fell on the ground and was unable to move, but the ambulance did not arrive until 9 p.m.

69-year-old Man Suddenly Dies in Prison

Mr. Lu Guanru, a former construction finance manager and resident of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, passed away on April 4, 2021, while serving a seven-year term for practicing Falun Gong. While the Tailai Prison claimed that the 69-year-old man died of a stroke, his family suspects that he may have been tortured to death.

Lu was arrested on November 9, 2018, in a sweep of more than 60 Falun Gong practitioners in both Daqing and Harbin City, the capital of Heilongjiang Province. While he was held at the Daqing City Detention Center, the police interrogated him, forced him to stand for long hours, and wear shackles.

When Lu went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, the guards force-fed him, which caused him to vomit blood and suffer heart failure. He was on the verge of death and was resuscitated at the hospital several times.

Lu appeared in Ranghulu District Court on June 6, 2019. His two lawyers entered a not guilty plea for him, and he testified in his own defense. The judge sentenced him to seven years with a 40,000 yuan fine on July 1, 2019. He appealed the verdict, but the Daqing City Intermediate Court upheld his sentence without a hearing on July 23.

Despite his serious medical condition, the detention center took him to Hulan Prison on July 30, 2019, to serve time, without notifying his family. He was then transferred to the Tailai Prison in November 2019 and died there on April 4, 2021.

Deaths After Prolonged Harassment and Incarceration

Health Destroyed after Three Prison Terms, Former History Teacher Dies in Despair

When Mr. Lu Songming, a former history teacher in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, returned home in 2018 from serving a third prison term for practicing Falun Gong, he had a severe heart condition and had many times been on the verge of death from torture.

Struggling with poor health for three years, the 53-year-old man passed away on the evening of March 28, 2021.

Lu graduated from the Hunan Province Normal University in 1990 and became a middle school history teacher. He began practicing Falun Gong in 1996, but after the Chinese Communist party began the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, was fired by his school and sentenced three times, for a total of 14 years.

While serving time, he was subjected to various tortures, including being hung up by his handcuffed wrists, beaten, shocked with electric batons, and forced to do long hours of intensive labor. The torture and abuse destroyed his health, causing him to develop a severe heart condition and being on the verge of death multiple times.

While serving his third term at Wangling Prison, Lu was forced to sit on a small stool without moving, for up to 16 hours each day. The torture caused him to suffer frequent heart attacks and he was often resuscitated.

Even after the doctor issued several notices of critical condition, the guards did not stop forcing Lu to sit on the small stool. Due to severe chest pain, sometimes he rolled on the ground, subsequently inducing dangerously high blood pressure. Yet the guards did not allow him to rest in bed.

By the time he was released on August 31, 2018, he was in serious condition and continued to struggle up to his death.

83-year-old Man Dies Hours After Being Sent Home on Oxygen

An 83-year-old man who had been serving time for his faith in Falun Gong died hours after he was sent home on oxygen on March 26, 2021.

Mr. Huang, a Qingdeng, a Leqing City, Zhejiang Province resident, was arrested at home on April 17, 2019. It is reported that the police targeted him upon finding out that he had sent text messages to the public about the persecution of Falun Gong.

After nearly a year in detention, Huang was sentenced to seven years by the Leqing City Court on March 12, 2020. He was admitted to Hangzhou Second Prison on an unknown date.

A prison guard called Huang’s family in mid-November 2020 and said Huang was found to have six diseases and had been sent to the hospital for resuscitation. Despite his critical condition, the prison refused to release him on bail.

Huang’s family received another call from the prison in March 2021 and was told that he had been taken back to the hospital for resuscitation.

Days later, at around 2 p.m. on March 26, 2021, Huang was sent home on oxygen. His entire body was black and blue. His family suspected that he had been given toxic drugs before being released. He died that same evening.

Original Article: https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2021/5/20/193227.html