At the height of the protest, Yu and 2 others threw paint at the famous Mao Zedong potrait at the Square. He was arrested for that act and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment (the equivalent to a life sentence in Malaysia!!) - for basically, a criminal damage charge.
17 years later, he was released. However, instead of a sweet reunion with his family, he could not recognise them. They say that he spoke unintelligibly. His father says that Yu is suffering from mental illness.
When a friend visited Yu in 2004, he alleged that Yu was "barely recognisable" - and that he had a big scar on the side of his head.
Human rights activists claim that Yu had been a victim of torture and his mental illness was as a result of that.
Among other things, Yu was reported to have been tied to a electricity pole and left out in the hot sun for several days. He was also kept in solitary confinement for two years and that was what broke him.
From the bright young mind of the journalist in 1989, he is now one who is mentally ill.
Torture is still widespread in China. Although China outlawed torture in 1996, the UN special rapporteur who visited China last year, Manfred Nowak, reported otherwise. He found that it remained widely in use across the country. Torture methods stil used included "use of electric shock batons, cigarette burns, and submersion in pits of water or sewage".
Source: BBC News Online - see here
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