(Minghui.org) A Baoding City, Hebei Province resident in his 60s was taken to the Jidong No. 4 Prison in early August 2023 to serve a three-year term for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Mr. Shi Zongxi’s ordeal stemmed from an arrest on February 13, 2020. While he managed to escape from police custody, he was forced to live away from home and went into hiding.
Mr. Shi was arrested while working in a factory on June 4, 2020. He was interrogated in the basement of the police station and released on bail on June 19 that year.
Mr. Shi was arrested again in late 2020 while distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. He was released at around midnight.
The police called Mr. Shi’s son in May 2021 and promised to clear Mr. Shi of prosecution if he reported to them “to wrap up his case from last year.” His son believed the police and strongly demanded that his father do as required. Mr. Shi therefore went to the police station days later on May 27, only to be arrested and admitted to the Mancheng District Detention Center.
As the authorities barred Mr. Shi’s family from visiting him, the family kept writing to the various departments handling his case to seek justice, but to no avail. The police later submitted his case to the Shunping County Procuratorate, which then indicted him.
Mr. Shi stood trial at the Shunping County Court on February 17, 2023. His wife was the only family member allowed into the courtroom. She almost fainted at the sight of him being carried by four bailiffs into the courtroom. He was wearing shackles and head-to-toe white protective gear. She could see only his eyes and couldn’t tell whether he had lost any weight after two years of detention.
Mr. Shi’s two lawyers entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. They were shocked to see that the prosecutor listed Shi Lianyou, a villager (with no relation to Mr. Shi) who had died in 2018, as a witness against their client. It’s not clear whether Shi’s “witness account” was deemed admissible evidence when the judge announced months later that Mr. Shi was sentenced to three years.
Mr. Shi appealed with the Baoding City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold the original verdict. His family is now again denied prison visitation and they deeply worry about their loved one’s wellbeing.
Related report:
Prosecutor Lists Long-dead Villager as Witness Against Falun Gong Practitioner
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