(Minghui.org) A Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province resident was notified on May 18, 2023, to report to the local court the next day. He went there as required and was handed down a 4.5-year prison sentence with a 10,000-yuan fine, for having Falun Gong books at home.
As Mr. Shi Keqin contracted tuberculosis during previous detention, he was taken to the hospital for a physical examination after being convicted and then allowed to wait for the result at home.
His test result was negative, and the police took him to the police hospital on May 22 for another physical examination, before detaining him at the Qinhuangdao City No.1 Detention Center.
Arrest and COVID-19 Quarantine
Shortly after Mr. Shi went to visit a friend on the morning of May 17, 2022, a police officer showed up at the friend’s home and asked him some questions. The officer then left. When Mr. Shi left his friend’s home, he was stopped by the residential complex’s security guard, who asked for his address and phone number.
Around the same time, officer Chen Teng went to Mr. Shi’s home but did not reveal the reason for the unexpected visit. He returned with a group of officers at 3 p.m. that afternoon. As Mr. Shi refused to open the door, they threatened to call a locksmith. Mr. Shi relented and let them in. Without showing their police IDs or search warrant, they confiscated his over 140 Falun Gong books, computer, and printer.
Mr. Shi was taken to the police station. Chen Chi, a deputy police chief, threatened that the confiscated books were enough to get him sentenced. Another officer Guo Yimin added that his “crime” would implicate his children and grandchildren.
In the evening, Chen Chi interrogated Mr. Shi and promised to fill out a search warrant after the fact (having already raided his home). But Mr. Shi was never shown any search warrant later. He was held in a conference room overnight and watched by two officers.
The police attempted to take Mr. Shi to a local lockup the next day. But due to the pandemic, the lockup refused to admit him directly but demanded he undergo quarantine first.
After 21 days of quarantine at the police hospital, the lockup still refused to take Mr. Shi, on the ground that he didn’t receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The police thus took him back to the hospital for a vaccine shot. But during the pre-shot examination, Mr. Shi was found to have extremely high blood pressure, as well as having contracted tuberculosis, due to the mental pressure from the latest detention. The doctor said he couldn’t give him the shot. Without taking him to the lockup, the police released him on June 9, after 23 days of detention.
Court Trial
The police submitted Mr. Shi’s case to the Beidaihe Procuratorate on November 15, 2022, and the case was transferred to the Funing District Procuratorate on January 5, 2023.
Mr. Shi stood trial at the Funing District Court on April 19, 2023. The judge said he would sentence him because he had Falun Gong books and printed Falun Gong materials at home. Mr. Shi argued that the books and materials were his lawful possessions and that he didn’t violate any law in having or printing them. He challenged prosecutor Wang Qi to present and read some parts of the books in court to see whether they contained harmful information as alleged in the indictment, yet Wang said that he had destroyed those books. Despite a lack of evidence, the judge sentenced Mr. Shi on May 19.
Related report in Chinese:
Related report:
Prosecutor Destroys Falun Gong Books Used as Prosecution Evidence Ahead of Hebei Man’s Hearing
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