Li was released again for reasons of poor health. Human Rights in China (HRIC) alleged that Li was tortured while in custody, resulting in his losing both his sight and hearing. Li himself said in his last interview that the only explanation for his becoming blind was through nerve damage caused by being repeatedly beaten about the head. During his spells in prison, Li was a frequent inmate in solitary confinement. In 2001, Li began a hunger strike as part of a petition to authorities to repay his health care costs, and was given an additional ten-year sentence for "inciting subversion". Whilst attempting to force feed Li during his hunger strike, guards knocked out Li's front teeth. He finally gained freedom in May 2011, when he checked into Daxiang District Hospital to treat his medical conditions. His sister, who lived 7 km away from the hospital, visited him twice a day with his meals. Li remained vocal in demanding vindication of the Tiananmen protesters up until his death: in an interview with i-CABLE broadcast four days before, he said "the souls of the martyrs deserve to finally find some peace". He advocated a multi-party democracy for his country, and said he did not regret his fight for a better China, "even had [he] been beheaded". In another interview, broadcast on French radio the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, he appealed to his compatriots "to observe 6-4". Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience. Apple Daily reported that he had no minders before the interviews. After his interviews were broadcast, Li was kept under around the clock surveillance by a team of 10 police officers. An account that was opened to receive donations from supporters from China and abroad to pay his medical fees was inexplicably blocked; he was also severely impeded from going to Beijing to see a specialist physician. Death Li was found dead on 6 June 2012, one year after his latest release from prison, in the Daxiang Hospital where he was being treated for heart disease and diabetes. Li was reportedly found on his feet with a strip of cloth tied around his neck and connected to a window bar. Li's next of kin, his sister Li Wangling and her husband Zhao Baozhu, rushed to the hospital shortly after they were telephoned at 6 am. His brother-in-law said that the body