(Minghui.org) A Chenzhou City, Hunan Province resident has been suffering from poor health since he was arrested on March 6, 2019 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Li Muduo, 58, began to vomit blood and see blood in his urine in late April. Despite his condition, he was made to stand trial on May 10. Two days later, he was rushed to hospital. When Mr. Li's wife visited him, she noted that he was too weak to fully open his eyes. Even before she had a chance to say much to her husband, the police dragged her out of the hospital room. Her request to have her husband released on bail was rejected on the grounds that Mr. Li refused to renounce his faith in Falun Gong.
At the time of writing, Mr. Li remains in critical condition and is being treated in the intensive care unit.
Testifying in Own Defense
Mr. Li appeared in the Suxian District Court on May 10, 2019. Armed police took pictures of his family members who came to support him and only allowed a few of them to go into the courtroom, where most of the seats were filled with government officials.
Mr. Li was charged with obstruction of law enforcement – a standard pretext used by the Chinese authorities to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners. Testifying in his own defense, he said that he learned Falun Gong to improve health and to be a better person and that he had done nothing to undermine any law enforcement.
Li Muduo urged the judge to make decisions based on his conscience and to uphold justice.
Repeatedly Persecuted for His Faith
Mr. Li has practiced Falun Gong since 1996. Many of his ailments from childhood soon disappeared. He lived by Falun Gong's principles – Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance – and was always ready to help others.
The area around his workplace had frequent wildfires. Mr. Li often volunteered to help put out the fires.
After the communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, he was repeatedly targeted for not renouncing his faith.
Because of appealing for Falun Gong in Beijing, Mr. Li was arrested in 2000 and detained for three months. The police ransacked his home twice and confiscated 30,000 yuan.
Mr. Li was given one year of forced labor in 2001 after he was arrested for going to Beijing again to appeal for Falun Gong. While serving time at the labor camp, he was savagely beaten by the guards. A guard struck Mr. Li in the chest with his elbow, causing Mr. Li to faint immediately.
From then on, Mr. Li suffered from frequent chest pains. Sometimes he had stomach bleeding or vomited blood. He was so weak after the tortures that he was unable to walk up a flight of stairs for a long time.
After he was released from the labor camp, Mr. Li's employer, the Industrial and Commercial Bank in Suxian District, forced him to take a buyout offer. He lost all income and became destitute.
In order to support his family, Mr. Li opened a small stationary shop in 2017, only to be reported to the police in May 2018 by a student for talking about Falun Gong.
He was released on bail shortly after being rejected admission by the local detention center due to extremely high blood pressure. But the authorities arrested him again on March 6, 2019 upon finding that he'd bought a train ticket to Changsha, another city in Hunan Province about 200 miles from Chenzhou.
The authorities claimed that Mr. Li violated the bail condition. The procuratorate approved his arrest on the same day with the charge of “undermining law enforcement.”
Related report:
Stationary Shop Owner Arrested after Students Report Him for Talking about Falun Gong
