(Minghui.org) A carpenter in Xiangtan City was secretly sentenced to 9 years in prison for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Neither Mr. Peng Shiqing's family nor his lawyer was ever informed of his court appearance. The 54-year-old man himself was never given a copy of the indictment against him. He didn't know he'd be tried on February 7, 2018, until he was brought in to face a judge in a makeshift courtroom in Xiangtan City Detention Center, where he has remained since his arrest on August 14, 2017.
Mr. Peng has filed an appeal with the Xiangtan City Intermediate Court. This is not the first time that he has been targeted for his faith. Back in 2001, he was given 8 years and tortured so badly in prison that his arms were severely injured and temporarily disabled.
Violent Arrest
Mr. Peng's elderly father and 4-year-old granddaughter lived with him at the time of his latest arrest. At around 8 a.m. on August 14, 2017, his father stepped out the door to find three plainclothes agents, who came out of nowhere and pushed him inside.
More than two dozen more agents, only three of them in uniform, showed up to grab Mr. Peng Shiqing and handcuff him. His wife, Ms. Xiong Chunxia, was still eating breakfast when she was immobilized.
Xie Ziliang, chief of Shuangma Police Station, waved a piece of paper and said it was a search warrant. He then ordered his deputies to ransack Mr. Peng's home.
They found two rooms locked and pried the doors open with a metal bar. Mr. Peng's computers, printers, and Falun Gong books and materials, as well as more than 30,000 yuan in cash, were confiscated.
The police took Mr. Peng, his wife, and their 4-year-old granddaughter to Gaoxin Police Office, where the couple was interrogated.
The little girl was picked up by a family member, and her grandparents were taken to Xiangtan City Detention Center that afternoon.
Chief Xie returned to Mr. Peng's home the following day and confiscated more of his personal belongings, including all his bank books, bank cards, social security cards, and IDs.
Ms. Xiong was released on 3,000 yuan bail on September 20, 2017. She hired a lawyer to defend her husband. The lawyer submitted his power of attorney, but he received no updates on his client until he learned recently, in late April 2018, that Mr. Peng had been sentenced to prison.
Related Reports:
Mr. Peng Shiqing Rendered Lame from Severe Beatings by the Xiangtan City "610 Office"
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