(Minghui.org) A 34-year-old man in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, recently lost his appeal protesting his long prison sentence for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Qu Xing was arrested on June 8, 2021, after being reported for putting up Falun Gong posters while delivering food. The Gaoxin District Court sentenced him to eight years with a 30,000-yuan fine on February 15, 2023. The Chengdu City Intermediate Court ruled on March 30 to uphold his original verdict.
It was confirmed in early July that Mr. Qu had been transferred to Jiazhou Prison (formerly known as Wumaping Prison) located in Leshan City, Sichuan Province.
Taking Up Falun Gong
Mr. Qu, a native of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, had been interested in spiritual cultivation since his teens. He studied Buddhism and went to Tibet to learn Tantrism. He then went to Nepal and tried to study under a famous monk. The monk didn’t specify whether he would take Mr. Qu as a disciple but kept him in the monastery for over a year. Mr. Qu lived a very simple life in a bamboo hut.
In 2018, he came across Falun Gong on the Internet. He was very excited after he read Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong. He said Falun Gong was exactly what he had been looking for. He told the monk that he had decided to practice Falun Gong. The monk was very happy for him.
Mr. Qu thus moved back to China. After a brief stop in Chengdu, he liked the city and decided to stay here.
Arrest and Sentencing
Mr. Qu was arrested outside of his rental apartment on June 8, 2021. Li Guodong, a prosecutor with the Gaoxin District Procuratorate, told his mother, Ms. Xu Yanping, in March 2022 that he had indicted her son and moved his case to the Gaoxin District Court. When Ms. Xu went to the courthouse on June 20 to submit an application to represent her son as a non-lawyer defender, judge Xie Gang refused to accept her paperwork, all the while shouting and cursing at her.
After Ms. Xu filed a complaint about judge Xie, his attitude improved, but he still denied her request to be Mr. Qu’s family defender, with the excuse that she was a prosecution witness in the case.
The Gaoxin District Court tried Mr. Qu on February 15, 2023. His mother wasn’t allowed to represent him or attend the proceedings. Although Mr. Qu’s lawyer was allowed into the courtroom, the judge didn’t allow him to speak. Most of the seats in the gallery were occupied by government officials.
According to Mr. Qu’s lawyer, Mr. Qu appeared to be exceptionally calm on that day. He tried to explain how the communist regime slandered Falun Gong with the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax, but the judge and the prosecutor refused to listen. The judge pronounced the eight-year verdict at the end of the trial.
Related Report:
Devout Lay Buddhist Turned Falun Gong Practitioner Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for His Faith
34-year-old Man Sentenced to Eight Years for Practicing Falun Gong
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