(Minghui.org) A former medical school lecturer, who was removed from the classroom seven years ago for refusing to renounce his faith, has now been demoted to a lab technician and banned from seeing patients.

Mr. Wang Lidi, a graduate and current employee of the School of Medicine at Hubei University of Science and Technology, was targeted because he practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

The 52-year-old physician had been repeatedly arrested and detained for his faith since the persecution began in 1999. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after he was arrested on September 5, 2005. Three times he was tortured to the point of becoming temporarily disabled.

Mr. Wang’s wife was missing when he returned home from prison on April 11, 2009. He was told that his wife had developed schizophrenia because of her constant fears from the arrests of her husband. It took Mr. Wang four years to find his wife. His son was also diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2015.

The school passed Mr. Wang up for promotion in 2002 because of his faith in Falun Gong. They removed him from his teaching position upon his prison release and transferred him to an affiliated hospital, where he was paid only a fraction of his previous salary.

Nevertheless, Mr. Wang persisted in following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in his interaction with patients, many of whom deemed him their favorite doctor.

The school administration, however, wasn’t happy with Mr. Wang’s talking to his patients about Falun Gong and the persecution. They held a meeting on February 24, 2017 and decided to demote Mr. Wang to a lab technician. The responsible officials included Li Qunwu, Liu Zusong, Yu Kaihu, Chen Kequan, Yu Houhuo, Mei Wuxuan, Yu Jingping, Zhang Wen, and Li Lianjun.

They warned that Mr. Wang’s pay would be suspended if he refused to cooperate. In order to support his wife and son, Mr. Wang accepted the new position in March. Local police officers recorded his first day at the lab with a video camera and did not stop until he protested the invasion of his privacy.

Related Report:Medical College Teacher Persecuted for Practicing Falun Gong--His Wife and Child Now Missing