(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Hua Lianyou from the Beichen District of Tianjin has been holding a hunger strike for one year and four months to protest the persecution by the Chinese authorities. Even though his life is in danger, he is still being detained at the Binhai Prison in Tianjin. Earlier this year, his friends and family members collected 2,815 signatures from Tianjin and the surrounding area calling for his immediate release. Recently another 2,330 people signed the petition, for a total of 5,145 people at this point.
Third batch of signatures for rescuing Falun Gong practitioner Hua Lianyou (partial)
Mr. Hua was an accountant for the Tianjin CRT Plant. He previously had many health problems, but after he started practicing Falun Gong, his health improved. Because he followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, Mr. Hua was popular wherever he went. His workplace praised his personality and work performance, and issued him awards.
Mr. Hua was arrested in April 2012 for his beliefs. He has been holding a hunger strike for one year and four months to protest the persecution. When his life was in danger, he was detained in Ciji Hospital and Xinsheng Hospital (also known as Kangning Prison) in Tianjin. He was recently returned to Gangbei Prison. A prison doctor said that he could die any time.
Despite his poor physical condition, Mr. Hua was recently beaten by other prisoners, and violently force-fed when he was in Xinsheng Hospital and Gangbei Prison. His family complained to the Bureau of Justice and Bureau of Prisons in Tianjin, requesting that those responsible for this abuse be punished.
Gangbei Prison is notorious for torturing and killing Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners Li Xiwang and Zhu Wenhua were killed there, and practitioner Ren Dongsheng was tortured until he suffered a mental collapse, with no explanation given to his family. Wu Dianzhong's ribs were broken, and his situation covered up until his prison term expired.
In July 2013, when Mr. Hua had been holding his hunger strike for more than one year in Gangbei Prison, his family became very worried about his physical condition. The prison refused to release him, claiming they would wait until “he is really dying.”
Mr. Hua's friends and family then started asking for help from the community, and quickly gained a positive response. Within a short period of time, 2,815 people had signed petitions calling on the authorities to release this good man.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is very afraid of voices of justice from the community. They arrested practitioners Li Yuanyong, Zhao Zhiyan, and Cai Baohua in Beichen District, Tianjin, in late August. They also harassed other practitioners in this district by visiting their homes and threatening them so they would not collect signatures for Mr. Hua.
But the people were not scared. Instead, they compared the compassion of practitioners with the evil of the CCP, and another 2,330 people were inspired to sign the petition calling for Mr. Hua's rescue. Some of them courageously spoke out.
One young couple said, “We will sign it. We read the truth-clarification flyers quite often. We know what is going on.”
An 80-year-old man who had already quit the CCP happily signed the petition and said, “I know that you are all good people! The CCP is so evil! Nowadays none of the CCP officials are good! The officials and police are in a league with criminal elements and are afraid of them. They only persecute good people. The CCP will not last long.”
A 60-year-old man said he also had his belief. He said, “I know that Falun Gong is good. Everyone knows what the CCP is. You should be more careful. I am worried about you.” He then signed his name and included his fingerprint.
A family of four was eating a meal when a practitioner approached them with the petition. The mother said, “Stop eating. It is more important to save people.” Thus everyone from the family signed their names and left their fingerprints.
More and more people are signing petitions calling for justice. If the Tianjin authorities and Gangbei Prison ignore these voices and continue persecuting innocent Falun Gong practitioners, more people will step forward to demand their release.
Related article:
Mr. Hua Lianyou's Hunger Strike to Protest Illegal Detention Has Lasted over 30Days
Mr. Hua Lianyou from Tianjin on Hunger Strike to Protest Another Arrest and Prison Term
