(Minghui.org) Shanghai resident Mr. Ding Yuguo, 36, was tried on February 9, 2018, for his belief in Falun Gong. He was illegally arrested on July 26, 2017.
His father asked to testify in his defense but was turned down. Mr. Ding was sentenced to 18 months.
While Mr. Ding remains detained, his friends who live in the United States contacted three Minnesota State senators. They wrote to the Shanghai government officials on September 15 to express their concern over the arrest and demanded the release of Mr. Ding.
Mr. Ding was arrested on his way to work on July 26, 2017. The officers then took him to his home and ransacked the entire place without showing any identification or a search warrant.
They failed to find anything, so they had to fabricate evidence to justify his arrest. When the legal reason for his arrest was challenged, they claimed that the evidence would be provided later. An official arrest warrant was delivered to the family on September 5.
This is not the first time that Mr. Ding has been targeted for his faith. He was arrested in March 2008 and sentenced to five years. He lost his well-paid job with a foreign company when he was arrested and had to make a living delivering take-out after he was released.
Mr. Ding's lawyer went to the Pudong Police Department to inquire into the case on September 19. He was kept waiting for hours in reception and finally left. He tried to call the persons handling the case in the Domestic Security Brigade for two days, but no one ever answered.
The lawyer complained through the discipline violation hotline, but the officer who answered the phone claimed that there was no wrongdoing by the police. The lawyer then filed a dereliction complaint against the police officers with the Shanghai Pudong Procuratorate.
The lawyer was asked about the status of Mr. Ding's case by his local justice bureau on November 23. It was an indirect hint that he should not defend Mr. Ding.
For almost a month after the arrest, Mr. Ding's family visited all the pertinent authorities to try to secure his release, but to no avail. They accused the police of abuse of power and unlawful search and seizure.
Mr. Ding's father went to the post office on October 18 to mail a complaint letter against the Gaoxing Police Station chief and Domestic Security Section chief for breaking the law. His mother immediately received a strange phone call telling the family not to mail the complaint letter, as well as a threatening message on the family's voicemail.
The complaint was not mailed, his parent's cell phone numbers were out of order, and the landline is being monitored. The family worries that they might meet with an accident.
Ma Jie (马超杰): presiding judge, Shanghai Pudong Court, +086-021-50614567Chen Gang (陈钢): prosecutor, Shanghai Pudong Procuratorate, +086-021-50137205Wang Xinqi (王昕琦): chief, Gaoxing Police Station, +086-021-68979738Xu Zhanghua (徐长华): chief, Pudong Branch Police Department, +086-021-22045448
Related Article:Minnesota State Senators Write to Shanghai Government Officials to Request Release of Detained Falun Gong Practitioner