(Minghui.org) A college student serving a 4.5-year term for practicing Falun Gong has been held in solitary confinement for at least three months as he refused to renounce his faith.
Mr. Liu Junhua, of Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province, was arrested in August 2022 by Yu Liang and others of the Lianxi District Domestic Security Division. He held a hunger strike at the local detention center to protest the persecution. During his detention, the authorities kept harassing his parents and threatening to sentence him to seven years. His parents, both retired college professors, sought help from Mr. Liu’s university to free him from detention, but to no avail.
It was confirmed by Minghui.org on April 4, 2023 that Mr. Liu was sentenced to three years and five months by the Yongxiu County Court. He appealed the verdict, only to have his term increased to four years and six months.
When his parents went to visit him at the Jiangxi Province Prison in Nanchang City, the capital of Jiangxi, one early morning in December 2023, they were initially turned away because their son was in solitary confinement. The couple insisted they be granted a visit and the guards finally relented after more than eight hours.
The couple were devastated to see Mr. Liu slowly walking out, while being held by two people by his arms. He was emaciated and his hands kept shaking. He said that he was placed in solitary confinement for not renouncing Falun Gong.
Mr. Liu’s parents went to the prison again around early April 2024, but they were not granted a visit this time despite their protest. A guard said Mr. Liu was still held in solitary confinement. His parents were deeply worried that he was still in solitary confinement after more than three months.
The Jiangxi Province Prison is the main prison for incarcerating male Falun Gong practitioners in the province. Those who remained firm in Falun Gong were beaten, shocked with electric batons, hung up by the wrists, held in solitary confinement, deprived of sleep and forced to stand for long hours. Some were also forced to work without pay. At least five practitioners died as a result of the torture there, including Mr. Lan Hu, Mr. Yang Pingsheng, Mr. Luo Laiyang, Mr. Liu Leima and Mr. Zhou Chuming.
Liu Junping (刘君平), warden of Jiangxi Province PrisonGuo Changui (郭昌贵), political secretary of Jiangxi Province PrisonQiu You (邱酉), deputy warden of Jiangxi Province Prison
Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province: Three Dafa Practitioners Sentenced, Seven Await Verdict