(Minghui.org) Mr. Jiang Hantong, 72, from Liaoning Province was illegally sentenced to five years in prison for practicing Falun Gong. During his detention, he became permanently blind when the detention center and prison refused to provide medical treatment.

Mr. Jiang Hantong, Mr. Wang Shixian and Mr. Wang Guoyan were arrested by the Longtan Town Police Station in Xiuyan County on March 20, 2015, for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. They were detained in the Xiuyan County Detention Center.

The three practitioners were tried in the Xiuyan County Court on July 6, 2015. Attorney Zhang Chuanli from Beijing, who defended Mr. Jiang, pleaded not guilty.

The court secretly sentenced Mr. Jiang to five years in prison, Mr. Wang Shixian to seven years, and Mr. Wang Guoyan to three years.

Mr. Jiang became blind after he was sentenced.

The Xiuyan County police did not inform Mr. Jiang's family that he had been diagnosed with glaucoma. Mr. Jiang was taken to the brainwashing center in Nanguanling Prison and later transferred to the Dalian City Prison.

According to Mr. Jiang's family, they did not know that he had become blind until they received a visitation notice from the Dalian City Prison in November 2015. Prison authorities repeatedly emphasized that he was blind before he was transferred to the prison. When the family and a prison guard took Mr. Jiang for another exam, the doctor said that it was too late to save his sight.

The family applied for a medical parole and it was approved by the prison warden. However, the Xiuyan County Police Department and Longtan Town Police Station refused to release him.

Participants in the persecution of Mr. Jiang:Wang Xiaoming, captain, Sixth Prison District, Dalian City Prison: +86-18004288830

Liu Hui, chief, Longtan Police Station, Xiuyan County: +86-13504125780