(Minghui.org) Ms. Xing Dan has been on a hunger strike in Liaoning Women's Prison since 2015. She is protesting her five-year sentence for her faith in Falun Gong.
In November 2016, the prison informed her family that they were terminating their quarterly visits to Ms. Xing at the prison, saying that she didn't cooperate with prison management and wouldn't end her hunger strike.
Ms. Xing's parents are both in their 70s. Her father, who had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, was so worried about her when he learned that he wouldn’t be allowed to visit her, that he postponed his cancer surgery and traveled all the way to the prison, only to be left outdoors in the cold for several hours.
Meanwhile, the prison arranged a three-month brainwashing session for Ms. Xing in an attempt to force her to give up her hunger strike. The prison psychiatrist, Li Yan, was in charge of her brainwashing.
In January 2017, Li found Ms. Xing's younger brother and invited him to the prison twice. With the guards standing to the side each time, Li let Ms. Xing's brother talk to her in person for more than six hours to try to persuade her to end her hunger strike.
Li told Ms. Xing's brother that she had anorexia and suggested that she take Olanzapine. He was asked to cover the cost of the drug.
Ms. Xing's brother didn't give his consent. He went home and researched the drug. He discovered that the drug is mainly used to treat mental disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Its side effects include asthenia, drug-induced Parkinson's disease, changes in vision, difficulty walking, etc.
After the prison authorities failed to convince Ms. Xing's brother to let her take the drug, they then turned to her parents.
Between mid-February and early March 2017, Ms. Xing's parents received several phone calls from the guards, saying that Ms. Xing was in critical condition and that, because she didn't cooperate, they expected her family to provide a medical treatment plan and then discuss it with the prison administration.
Ms. Xing's parents are very worried about her. They are not medical professionals, but the prison is pushing them to come up with a medical plan to treat her. They suspect that the prison is trying to avoid being held responsible for Ms. Xing.
Ms. Xing Dan, 46, was a high school Russian language teacher. She was arrested on July 21, 2014, for not giving up practicing Falun Gong. She was tried twice in Tiedong District Court, on November 14, 2014 and January 23, 2015. She was sentenced to five years on February 13, 2015.
In fact, she started her hunger strike while she was in the detention center. She was already very weak back then. She was emaciated, weighing only about 87 pounds with a height of over 5.5 ft. She had a severe heart problem, low blood pressure, and some of her organs showed signs of failing.
Despite her condition, the prison accepted her on June 2, 2015, and refused to release her when she continued her protest hunger strike.
Only eight days after she was admitted to the prison, a guard informed her family on June 10 that she was in critical condition and that she might die at anytime. Her family applied for medical parole several times, but the prison turned them down each time with the excuse that Ms. Xing was on a hunger strike and didn't follow the prison's regulations.
The prison had been force feeding Ms. Xing. After her nose became swollen and infected as a result of the frequent insertion of the feeding tube, she was given infusions of glucose instead.
Previous Reports:
Ms. Xing Dan Illegally Tried Despite Being Critically IllDragged into Court When Ill, High School Teacher Suffers Heart Attack and Two SeizuresHusband Detained and Tortured for Requesting Wife's Release
Perpetrators' Contact Information:
Jia Fujun (贾福军), head of the prison: +86-24-31236001 (Office), +86-15698808121Xu Min (徐敏), deputy head of the prison: +86-24-31236002 (Office), +86-15698806633 (cell) (in charge of persecuting Falun Gong)Yao Bin (姚彬), deputy head of the prison: +86-24-31236007 (Office), +86-15698805885 (Cell)Shi Yingchun (史迎春), political director: +86-24-31236011 (Office), +86-15698807010 (Cell)
