(Minghui.org) Mr. Zhang Aiwen was illegally sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment by Qinglong County Court on January 11, 2018, for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. Qinglong County Procuratorate and the local police department provided fabricated evidence to the court. Mr. Zhang's family members have filed an appeal.

Mr. Zhang was driving to Tangshan on a business trip on March 14, 2017, when he was intercepted at Jiangchangying Check Point and arrested by Qinglong County Police. Officers from Dashiling Township Police Station and Qinglong County Police Department ransacked his home afterward.

Mr. Zhang was held in Qinglong County Detention Center on March 15. Zhang Wentian from Dashiling Township Police Station, and Feng Qi and Lu Zhendong from Qinglong County Police Department, broke into his home and took his father to the police station for interrogation. They also harassed his wife in order to obtain the other practitioners’ names. She refused to comply with their demands.

Mr. Zhang's family hired two lawyers from Beijing on March 16. They went to the detention center to visit Zhang on March 17 but was not allowed to see him. They then went to the Domestic Security Division twice but could not meet anyone in charge.

Domestic Security officers also went to interrogate Mr. Zhang six times. They fabricated evidence and forced Mr. Zhang to admit to what they had fabricated. The fake items were sent to Qinglong County Procuratorate on March 22.

The lawyers went to meet with Mr. Zhang on the afternoon of March 23. They were not allowed to see him at the detention center; therefore, they delivered their request to the Qinglong County Procuratorate.

On January 11, 2018, Qinglong County Court illegally tried Mr. Zhang and sentenced him to three years in prison.

During his detention period, Mr. Zhang's health deteriorated as he was forced to perform heavy labor each day.

Mr. Zhang is 45 years old. He had a childhood illness that caused his upper thigh to fester before developing into a limp. He could not do heavy work as he grew older.

“After he started to practice Falun Gong, he stopped gambling, smoking, and drinking alcohol,” Mr. Zhang’s father said. “He followed Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a better person.”