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By Li Jingyi 11/07/2010
After 3 years in prison, Chinese poet, freelance writer, and activist,
Li Hong, is in a critical condition. His wife and friends are calling
for help from the international community.
Mr.Li Hong
Li Hong (original name Zhang Jianhong) from Hangzhou City in China’s
Zhejiang Province was released on bail for medical treatment on June 5.
He was directly transferred to the Ningbo Number Two People’s Hospital
and admitted to its intensive care unit.
Poet persecuted in prison
Li was the founding editor of the popular Zhejiang news and literary website Aegean Sea.
On March 19, 2007, he was sentenced to six years in prison for
“inciting subversion of state power” for articles he wrote criticizing
the regime’s human rights record in advance of the 2008 Beijing
Olympics.
He was later diagnosed with muscular dystrophy but was denied
medical parole. He suffered from severe muscle atrophy and lost
function of his arms. He is now at risk of paralysis, according to a
report by the advocacy group Human Rights in China.
Voice of America
reported that Patrick Poon, the vice president of Independent Chinese Pen Center,
said that there is reason to believe that Li has been mistreated in
prison. “His health was not this poor when he entered the prison”,
Patrick said, “so how come now he has to get nutrients intravenously?
We are worried that he has received inhumane treatment while in prison.”
Li’s wife Dong Min has worked hard to seek medical parole for Li in the
past three years and Li himself has applied many times to Zhejiang
Provincial Justice Department, but all were denied. It was not until
June 5, 2010 when Li’s condition seriously deteriorated ,that he was
allowed to seek medical treatment outside the prison.
When contacted, Dong Min was caring for Li in the Ningbo hospital. She
said, “Li Hong has already been transferred out of prison and is in
Ningbo hospital. He needs someone to watch over him all the time. The
doctor said repeatedly that he needs peace and quiet. We also
continuously told him so. I cannot answer the phone when I’m by his
side, and he cannot be left alone. He now relies on a ventilator to
sustain life and we cannot let him shake or move his body. He is now
awake and suffers excruciating pain.”
When asked if Li is free, Dong dodged the topic and said, “Li needs
someone to watch over him and cannot be left alone. I am sorry, but I
have to go back in.”
Appeal for helpAccording to a report by China Free Press,
when Dong saw her husband on the morning of June 5, Li could no longer
speak due to respiratory failure, and had to be kept alive by machine.
He was unconscious and could not communicate with his family. As soon
as Dong was done with the formality of getting medical parole for Li,
she notified Dr. Yang Jianli, a Tiananmen dissident and Harvard Kennedy
School fellow who had been concerned about Li’s case and had made
various rescue attempts. She expressed gratitude to friends at home and
abroad, who had shown long-term concern to Li.
Dr. Yang donated US $300 to Li’s family and called for attention and
quick action to donate and help Li; otherwise Li may not be able to
continue medical care due to financial constraints. At present, Li’s
family is destitute. Dong has no job and is also ill. For the past few
years, they have lived on the pension of their parents who are in their
80's. The only working person in their family is their daughter, who
works as a low-level clerk in a private company. It is impossible for
her to afford the treatment cost for Li.
Yang said that Li had been sent to a forced labor camp after the 1989
democratic movement and has always been a dissident writer. In 2006,
under the tense political atmosphere with renowned human rights lawyer
Gao Zhisheng being arrested, Li stood up to speak up for the Falun Gong
members being persecuted and to defend Gao. “Now his life is in
danger”, Yang said, “in any case, we want him to feel the help and
warmth from friends. I hope that all can lend a helping hand as soon as
possible to help Li Hong.”
Prior to being sentenced, Li Hong had published on the internet several articles regarding
live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners, an article on the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (a series of editorials published by The Epoch Times
in late 2004 that reveals the true nature of the Communist Party), and
several articles supporting human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
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