(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr Liu Zhanhai from the Nangang District in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, died on December 5th, 2014, while serving a four-year prison term in the Shenyang No. 1 Prison. Mr Liu was one of the 13 practitioners arrested in Shenyang in March 2013 for doing the Falun Gong exercises in public. He was subsequently sentenced to a four-year prison term.
On December 5th, Mr Liu's family received a phone call from the Shenyang No. 1 Prison, announcing that he was in critical condition. The family was given an hour to get to the prison. When they arrived, Mr Liu showed no signs of life. It was only then that a prison guard told the family that he had died three days prior.
Mr Liu's family was only allowed to view his body from the neck up. When the family requested an autopsy, the prison authorities evaded their request and tried to get the family to sign an agreement for cremation.
Background
Mr Liu Zhanhai was arrested on the morning of March 21st, 2013, in Xiaofang Park in Shenyang City, where he did the Falun Gong exercises with other practitioners. Within a three-day span, agents from the Domestic Security Division in Shenyang City arrested a total of 13 practitioners for doing the exercises and designated the “Shenyang Morning Exercise Case” a top priority.
The practitioners were tortured during brutal interrogations after the arrests, and many were badly injured. The first scheduled joint trial of the practitioners was postponed on March 18th, 2014, after one of the defendants fainted in the courthouse. Mr Liu and another practitioner fainted at the second trial on April 15th, but the Dadong District Court judge continued with the hearing without the defendants present and later sentenced Mr Liu to a four-year term in the Shenyang No. 1 Prison.
Mr Liu's appeal request was turned down by the court without a valid reason. His family learned in late November that he had shown symptoms of stroke.
Targeted for his belief
Mr Liu had been targeted by the local authorities since the onset of the persecution. He was arrested four times for refusing to give up his belief. His first arrest was in July 2001, when he was sentenced to one year of forced labour in Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp. In July 2007, he was arrested and illegally detained at the Jiangbei Brainwashing Centre. Mr Liu was again arrested in August 2007 and sentenced to forced labour.
Parties involved in the persecution of Mr Liu Zhanhai:
Song Changde (宋长德), warden, Shenyang No. 1 Prison: +86-18804016200 (mobile), +86-15698802700 (mobile)
Jin Xu (金旭), division head, Shenyang No. 1 Prison: +86-18804018466
Summary of key persecution facts:
Name: Liu Zhanhai (刘占海)
Gender: Male
Age: 48
Address: Nangang District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Death: December 5th, 2014
Date of Most Recent Arrest: March 21st, 2013
Most Recent Place of Detention: Shenyang No. 1 Prison (沈阳第一监狱)
City: Shenyang
Province: Liaoning
Persecution Suffered: Forced labour, brainwashing, illegal sentencing, torture, interrogation, detention
