(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Liu Hongtao, 39, lived in Daowai District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. He began cultivating Falun Dafa in July 1999, but in less than a month, the persecution started. In order to speak out for Falun Dafa, he went to Beijing to appeal in February 2000 and was detained for 15 days in the Taiping District Detention Center. The local police extorted 2,000 yuan from his family and took 500 yuan in cash from his pocket. His employer broke his contract, leaving him out of work and with no income.
In December 2000, Mr. Liu went to Beijing to appeal again and was sentenced to one year of forced labor, which he served in Changlinzi Labor Camp. He went on hunger strikes many times in the camp. Guards force-fed him with a tube, causing him extreme pain. He was beaten and cursed constantly. After he was released on December 25, 2001, the local police kept harassing him at home, even climbing over a wall at times to get into his residence. He felt compelled to leave home to avoid being arrested. He lived a hard life away from home for eight months.
On February 22, 2003, Mr. Liu was arrested by Harbin City Domestic Security agents and detained in the Harbin City Second Detention Center. He was tortured in all sorts of ways during his interrogation and injected with unknown substances. The other prisoners discovered that he had a high fever due to the injection. On May 20, 2003, he was transferred to Nan'gang Detention Center. His face was disfigured after he was beaten while being interrogated in the Second Detention Center. The Nan'gang Detention Center was reluctant to accept him at first, but they were forced to accept him by an upper level order. He was soon sentenced to three years in prison.
When he was taken to Xinjian Prison, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in both lungs, and prison officials refused to admit him. His family tried very hard to get him bailed out on medical parole, but the local police refused to give permission, giving all sorts of excuses. He was taken to the Wanjia Prison Hospital, but the doctors rejected him because his condition was beyond treatment. Nan'gang Detention Center officials eventually forced the hospital to accept him. His family had to pay 11,000 yuan in hospital costs even though the doctors did not treat him. He was taken back to Nan'gang Detention Center on May 13, 2005, but had to be taken to the Police Hospital on May 16, three days later. His family paid for that bill, as well. He was taken back to Nan'gang Detention Center on June 20, 2005. The next day, his family made an adamant request that he get an operation done in the Harbin City Tuberculosis and Chest Hospital. He was checked out on July 12, 2005, and taken back to Nan'gang Detention Center.
Mr. Liu never got better. His family tried to have him be treated, but detention center officials delayed treatment repeatedly. He was not released a single day early, but exactly on February 21, 2006, when his term ended. Because his treatment was severely delayed, Mr. Liu's condition did not improve after returning home, and he died at 5:30 a.m. on August 17, 2008, survived by his elderly parents and young child.
Category: Deaths
