Name: Yu Zhongzhu (于忠柱)
Gender: Male
Age: 39
Address: Guyuan Town, Songling District, Daxinganling City, Heilongjiang Province (黑龙江省大兴安岭松岭区古源镇)
Occupation: Guyuan Forestry Farm employee
Date of Death: January 14, 2010
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 8, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Heilongjiang Province Tailai Prison (黑龙江省泰来监狱)
City: Daxinganling
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Persecution Suffered: Illegal sentencing, imprisonment, interrogation, detention

(Clearwisdom.net) (By a correspondent from Heilongjiang Province) On January 14, 2010, Mr. Yu Zhongzhu's family received a call from Tailai Prison, asking them to go to the prison hospital because Mr. Yu was in critical condition. When his family rushed there, all were body-searched by the guards and not allowed to bring any communication devices or cameras. Mr. Yu died at 10 p.m. the same day, and his body was cremated without permission two days after, on January 16, without autopsy.

At 5:30 p.m. on August 8, 2008, the day the Beijing Olympics opened, more than a dozen officers arrested five practitioners from Guyuan Town: Ms. Wang Yuhong, Ms. Li Yajuan, Ms. Zui Weiyan, Ms. Sun Lijuan, and Mr. Yu Zhongzhu (Ms. Sun's husband). They also arrested three more practitioners from Hanjiayuan Town in neighboring Huma County: Ms. Zhao Peijin, Ms. Se Guirong, and Ms. Li Yaru. The officers were from the Daxinanling Prefecture Police Department, the Domestic Security Division, the Songling District Police Department, the Hanjiayuan Town Police Department, and the Guyuan Town Police Department and included Domestic Security Chief Wang Jingkai and 610 Office Chief Guang Congrong. They detained the practitioners in the Hanjiayuan Town Detention Center and the Shibazhan Detention Center. They put the eight practitioners on trial on December 22, 2008. All eight practitioners' families hired lawyers to defend their innocence. At the beginning of 2009, Ms. Wang Yuhong was sentenced to six years in prison, Ms. Li Yajuan was sentenced to three years in prison, Ms. Zui Weiyan was sentenced to four years in prison, Ms. Sun Lijuan was sentenced to four years in prison, Ms. Zhao Peijin was sentenced to five years, Ms. Se Guirong was sentenced to four years, Ms. Li Yaru was sentenced to three years, and Mr. Yu Zhongzhu was sentenced to six years in prison. They all filed appeals individually, but they were all denied, and Daxinganling Prefecture 610 Office threatened to arrest the eight lawyers who defended them.

On April 27, 2009, the seven women were taken to Harbin Women's Prison, while Mr. Yu Zhongzhu was taken to Tailai Prison. It is not known exactly what torture he endured, only that he died in custody six months later.

Written on January 21, 2010