(Minghui.org) An imprisoned man suffering from a stroke has lost his ability to speak and is paralyzed on one side of his body. However, the prison authorities have refused to grant him medical parole. His family is calling for his immediate release.

Mr. Huang Min, 74, used to be a professor at the Electronic Engineering Department of Jiamusi University in Heilongjiang Province. He successfully helped intercept the local cable TV signal in 2002 to broadcast programs about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. Intercepting TV signals was a way a small number of Falun Gong practitioners used in the first few years of the persecution to counter the regime's broadcast of propaganda to incite public hatred of Falun Gong.

The local police launched a manhunt for Mr. Huang. He moved from place to place before being captured in Shandong Province on January 23, 2003. He was sentenced to 20 years on August 5 and transferred to Shandong Province Prison on September 1 that year.

Mr. Huang went on hunger strikes on more than 40 occasions to protest his imprisonment for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief. As no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, he firmly believes that the public is entitled to know that the persecution of Falun Gong lacks legal basis.

The prison guards retaliated by torturing Mr. Huang, including forcing him to sit on a “small stool” for long periods of time. To prevent him from falling asleep, they poked his eyes and pinched his nose. When he did doze off, they made loud noises to wake him up.

The long-term abuse took a toll on his health. He developed elevated blood pressure and difficulty with urination. Most recently, he had a stroke and is fighting for his life.

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