(Minghui.org) A 68-year-old man was tried for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline persecuted by the communist regime in China since 1999. His health deteriorated after his trial, but his family could not get the authorities to release him on medical parole. Despite being bedridden and unable to care for himself, he was sentenced to three years in prison. His family has filed an appeal on his behalf.
Before practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Liu Defu from Shenyang was very ill and had a bad temper. He credits Falun Gong with improving his health and well-being.
After the Communist Party began its violent campaign against Falun Gong in 1999, Mr. Liu began to tell people about the persecution. As a result, police arrested him in December 2012 and detained him in the Dadong District Detention Center.
He suffered a heart attack and blood vessel obstruction after being tortured. He was sentenced to three years in prison for his faith. While still displaying signs of cardiovascular problems in May 2013, he was taken to the Liaoning Province Prison. A month later, he was transferred to the Xihu Prison in Benxi City, where he was tortured and made to undergo brainwashing and forced labor.
A prison guard ordered several inmates to beat Mr. Liu until he was covered in blood and required 21 stitches. The guards put him into a solitary confinement cell, where they chained him to the ground.
Shortly after Mr. Liu was released, the police arrested him again, as well as his wife and other practitioners in November 2016, for hanging up Falun Gong posters. Officers ransacked his home and confiscated the couple's belongings. His wife was released on bail the same day while he was taken to the Shenhe Detention Center.
Mr. Liu was tortured in the detention center and had hypertension and a brain hemorrhage. He was hospitalized many times and eventually taken to the Shenyang No.242 Hospital. His family asked for him to be released on medical parole, but the authorities repeatedly denied their requests.
Then, Mr. Liu fell in the hospital in May 2017, after which the left side of his body was paralyzed. The authorities, instead of granting medical parole, put him on trial on July 13 at the Shenhe District Court. His trial was held in the hospital without his family present. He could not walk or think properly. After the trial, his health deteriorated, and he is bedridden and incontinent.
The family many times asked to see Judge Liu Qian, who avoided them. They submitted the medical examination documents for the bail application. Two days later, on August 14, the judge told the family that Mr. Liu had been sentenced to three years in prison.
Related information:
Elderly Shenyang Practitioner Sentenced to Three Years in PrisonProcuratorate Rejects the Case Against Six Shenyang City PractitionersA Good Man Taken into Custody, Shenyang City Police Attempt to Have Prosecutors Press Charges
