(Minghui.org) Mr. Su Yucai’s family finally confirmed recently that their loved one is now serving a 2.5-year term at the Gongzhuling Prison for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Mr. Su, 68, used to work for the Peiying Street Committee in Yushu City, Jilin Province. Since the onset of the persecution, he has been arrested nine times and given four labor camp terms. Due to frequent harassment, he and his family were unable to live a normal life. They thus decided to move to Changchun City, the capital of Jilin, to hide from the police.
On the morning of September 27, 2021, Mr. Su was arrested by officers Zou and Li of the Changjiu Police Station while taking his grandson to school. After ransacking his home, the officers took him to the police station and interrogated him, while forcing him to sit in a metal restraining chair.
The police attempted to detain Mr. Su at the Weizigou Lockup, which declined to admit him due to his poor health. The police then released him, but continued to monitor him on a daily basis. Upon seeing the frequent police presence outside of his home, Mr. Su was forced to live away from home to avoid the constant harassment.
It’s not clear when Mr. Su returned home. But when he shopped for daily necessities on May 25, 2022, he comforted the shopkeeper who was complaining about declining business during the pandemic. When Mr. Su went on to talk about how practicing Falun Gong brings people hope, the shopkeeper secretly recorded him and called the police. When Mr. Su finished shopping, the shopkeeper blocked him from leaving until the police showed up. Several officers took Mr. Su to the Nanhu Police Station and confiscated his ID. He was ordered to report to the police station every week.
Officers Wang Zihang, Lu Zhengyuan and an officer from the Changjiu Police Station knocked on Mr. Su’s door at around 8 a.m. on August 16, 2022, claiming to be from the residential committee. Mr. Su’s grandson opened the door, only to see the police barge in and arrest his grandfather.
After three days at the police station, Mr. Su was taken to the Changchun City No. 2 Detention Center and denied any contact with his family. The police later submitted his case to the Chaoyang District Procuratorate. After the prosecutor indicted him and moved his case to the Chaoyang District Court, his family kept calling the police and the court, but no one ever picked up the phone.
Mr. Su’s arrest dealt his son, who has become incapacitated due to a stroke, a hard blow. The younger man struggled with unstable blood pressure and had frequent seizures.
In early 2023, Mr. Su’s family learned that he had been sentenced to 2.5 years in November 2022 by the Chaoyang District Court. They contacted the court, demanding a copy of his verdict. But the court staff they spoke to always said that higher-ups had ordered them not to provide the family with a copy of his verdict.
It took the family another eight months to confirm that Mr. Su was held at the Changchun City Public Security Supervision Center after he was sentenced and that he was transferred to the Gongzhuling Prison in the outskirts of Changchun on May 26, 2023. He is now held in the Ninth Ward.
In addition to his latest sentencing, Mr. Su has been targeted multiple times and given four labor camp terms for upholding Falun Gong.
He was arrested at work on March 14, 2000, and held in a lockup. On April 30 that year, he was taken to the Weizigou Forced Labor Camp to serve a one-year term, during which time he was forced to do unpaid labor and subjected to brainwashing.
Mr. Su was arrested again on February 26, 2003, while visiting practitioner Ms. Liu Huijun. He was given another 1.5 years at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp. He was also tortured and forced to work without pay.
Mr. Su’s next arrest was on October 11, 2005. His home was ransacked and he was again given 1.5 years at Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp.
Mr. Su was detained for 15 days following his arrest at practitioner Mr. Yang Zhanjiu’s home on February 14, 2009.
His fourth labor camp term was given after his other arrest on August 28, 2012. As the authorities were already planning to abolish the labor camp system months later, the Yushu City Domestic Security Office had to get special permission from the local justice bureau to give Mr. Su a forced labor term. Mr. Su was taken to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp on September 7, 2012, as the last Falun Gong practitioner in Changchun to be given a labor camp term.
After Four Labor Camp Terms, Grandfather Secretly Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Prison