(Minghui.org) A Tongcheng County resident was tried on November 2 for refusing to renounce Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

Mr. Zheng Zixiang was seized from his home on September 3. In just two months of detention, the 72-year-old man has been abused to the point of becoming incapacitated. His mobility, vision, and hearing were severely impaired, and he suffered splitting headaches.

As the local court did not give his family enough time to hire lawyers, Mr. Zheng’s daughter, Ms. Zheng Wei’e, testified in his defense.

She argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Dafa and that her father was simply exercising his constitutional right to freedom of belief. She also scolded the court and detention center for failing to inform the family of her father’s precarious health condition as required by law.

Mr. Zheng also testified that his practice of Falun Dafa caused no harm to anyone or society at large.

Judge Wu Hongxia ordered for Mr. Zheng to continue to be held at the local detention center. Mr. Zheng’s son carried him to the police cruiser, as the elderly man could not walk by himself.