Mr. Xu died at the age of 36 in 2009, merely 13 days after his release from prison. Since then, efforts by his family, fellow villagers and an attorney to investigate his cause of death have been met with government suppression.
In March 2010, 376 villagers from five villages of Yingemen Town, Qingyuan County, Liaoning Province jointly filed an appeal to the government on behalf of practitioner Xu Dawei, who died after being persecuted by the authorities. A few months later, the appeal case has become widely known as the "Incident of joint signature appeal." Mr. Xu Dawei's family hired attorney Wang Jinglong to represent them in court. However, the attorney was pressured by the Law Enforcement Bureau of Liaoning Province.
Appeal letter signed by 376 villagers
Mr. Xu Dawei was well-known as a good young man by fellow
villagers. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for refusing to
give up his practice of Falun Gong. In prison, he was subjected to
several methods of torture, including extended periods of handcuffing
and shackling, savage beatings, hanging by the arms, force-feeding,
being whipped with rubber tubes, being punctured with needles, and
electric shock treatment. When he was released on February 3, 2009 on the verge
of death, his
hair had turned completely white; his body was emaciated, his eyes were
dull, and he could not recognize his family members. There were
multiple marks on his skin from the electric shock treatment and his
limbs were swollen. His right knee and right ankle were scarred and his
buttock skin was in necrosis.
After he returned home, he kept squatting in a corner and dared
not move. His family told him, "You are at home. Don't be afraid any
more." However, he was clear-minded one moment, then confused the next.
While he was clear-minded, he told them, "The prison authorities gave
me nerve-damaging drug injections, locked me in solitary confinement,
and kicked and punched me." His family sent him to the hospital. The
doctor said, "He is on the verge of death. His heart is weak and
failing. When we tried to draw blood for testing, we could not draw any
out. His skin is hard and has lost elasticity. This situation was not
caused in a day or two. It's been like this for a long time and the
time for medical intervention has long passed."
Mr. Xu died at the age of 36 on February 16, 2009, merely 13 days after his release.
 A few months prior to his arrest |
 His body is emaciated and shows multiple wounds from electric shock tortures. His buttock skin is in necrosis. |
 Mr. Xu, a kind, honest and upright person, was a chef at a restaurant in Shenyang City. |
Mr. Xu's family hired attorney Mr. Wang Jinglong from Fayuan Law Firm in Shenyang City. On January 22, 2010, the attorney mailed an express postal service package to Li Zhong, warden of Dongling Prison. The package included the appeal letter signed by the villagers, six comparison photos of Mr. Xu Dawei before and after the prison term, the death certificate, the hospital record summary, lawsuit documents and a compensation request, a photocopy of Mr. Xu's citizen ID card, and a photocopy of his attorney certificate.
Two months passed without a response. On March 26, the attorney went to Dongling Prison and was received by a prison office manager, who told him that the warden was on a business trip and would be back in a few days. The manager also told the attorney, "It is commonplace for prisoners to die in prison. It is impossible for the prison to willingly pay the compensation. You will have to bring it to the court."
During the two months, Mr. Xu's family mailed the appeal letter with all the signatures to various authorities. When they went to the government office requesting a response to the appeal letter, the officials tried to pressure them to neither post any information on the internet nor bring the case to court. "Otherwise, you will bear all the consequences yourselves," The officials threatened.
On the evening of April 7, 2010, the director of the Law Enforcement Bureau and the police chief of Qingyuan County went to the villages to investigate the case. However, they were not there to study the villagers' appeal. Instead, they went to each household, inquiring, "Who asked you to sign the appeal letter? What was your purpose in doing so?"
In the end, they threatened every villager, "Don't get involved with this any more!"
Recently, information surfaced that the attorney was summoned by the Province Law Enforcement Bureau, and was interrogated for taking the case of Mr. Xu Dawei's death. Afterward, the attorney was was facing potential revocation of his attorney license.