(Minghui.org) Mr. Shi Wenzhuo, 59, from Changchun City, Jilin Province was sentenced to six years in December 2023 for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Shi was arrested and had his home raided by two officers from the Tumenling Police Station on the afternoon of March 16, 2023. They confiscated one Falun Gong book and a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder.
Six other officers went to the property management office at Mr. Shi’s apartment complex earlier that day (at 7 a.m.), demanding to see surveillance videos. They decided to arrest him when they saw him taking out the trash in a video.
The two arresting officers drove Mr. Shi straight to the Xinglongshan Detention Center in Changchun City, but the detention center refused to admit him after he failed the required physical examination. The police demanded another round of physical examinations, but the results showed he was still in poor health.
The police next went to a hospital and had a doctor there alter Mr. Shi’s physical examination results. The detention center then agreed to accept him. The guards there interrogated him, forced him to drink alcohol, and hung him up with ropes.
The Kuancheng District Procuratorate indicted Mr. Shi and forwarded his case to the Kuancheng District Court. He stood trial on August 11, 2023. The court did not notify his family of the hearing beforehand and only told them about it after the hearing was over. The court later held a second hearing and again did not notify Mr. Shi’s family.
According to insiders, judge Li Dan presided over the trial. Also present were judges Cao Yangzi and Liu Xiaona, as well as clerk Wang Xiaoxu. Li promised to only sentence Mr. Shi to two years if he admitted “guilt”; otherwise he would get 3 years or more. He did not comply with the demand as he broke no law in practicing Falun Gong.
The court delivered a guilty verdict to Mr. Shi on December 19. He was sentenced to six years. He wrote on the verdict, “The ruling against me was invalid.”
Past Persecution
Mr. Shi took up Falun Gong in March 1999 and never wavered in his faith after the persecution began four months later. He has since been repeatedly targeted for upholding his faith. Prior to his latest arrest, he was given one year of forced labor in 2000 and twice sentenced to prison (nine years in 2002 and four years in 2012).
On July 20, 1999, the day the communist regime officially began the persecution of Falun Gong, Mr. Shi went to the provincial government to appeal for the right to practice his faith. He was arrested and taken to the Nanling Elementary School. He managed to escape.
Mr. Shi and a few other local practitioners went to Beijing on February 24, 2000 to appeal for Falun Gong. They were arrested outside the State Council’s Appeals Office and escorted back to Changchun overnight. Mr. Shi was detained at Jiutai District Lockup for 15 days.
Mr. Shi went to Beijing again on June 16, 2000, and did the Falun Gong exercises on Tiananmen Tower (on the northern edge of Tiananmen Square). He was arrested and taken back to Changchun by officers from the Jiutai District Police Department. He was held at the Jiutai District Lockup before being transferred to the Jiutai District Detention Center on June 22, 2000. He was later given one year at the Yinmahe Labor Camp and was released on April 20, 2001.
Mr. Shi and a few other practitioners were hanging banners bearing Falun Gong messages on September 20, 2001, when they were spotted by police. He escaped and stayed away from home for a month to avoid being arrested.
On March 12, 2002, several practitioners in Changchun City tapped into the local cable TV to broadcast programs exposing the persecution of Falun Gong. The police arrested thousands of local practitioners. Mr. Shi went into hiding to avoid being arrested.
Mr. Shi went to Beijing again. He and another practitioner unfurled a banner with the message: “Falun Dafa Is Good” on Tiananmen Square. He also shouted the words. He was arrested and taken to Tiananmen Police Department before being moved to Chaoyang District Detention Center. He went on a hunger strike for eight days and was force fed. He was released on April 30, 2002.
On November 27, 2002, Mr. Shi was arrested at his sister’s home by more than ten officers from the Jiutai District Police Department and the Gongnong Police Station. He was interrogated with torture and sentenced to nine years by the Jiutai District Court on November 5, 2003. He was released from Jilin Prison in November 2011.
On May 30, 2012, Mr. Shi was arrested for distributing Falun Gong informational materials by Dong Ping, head of the Jiutai District Domestic Security Office. The Jiutai District Court sentenced Mr. Shi to four years in November 2012, and he was again taken to Jilin Prison. He was released on May 29, 2016.
During his two prison terms, Mr. Shi was subjected to various forms of torture, including beatings, electric shocks, scalding with hot water, and being tied up with ropes.
Related Reports:
Twice Jailed for a Total of 13 Years, Jilin Man Again Faces Trial for His Faith
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