(Minghui.org) It was recently confirmed by Minghui.org that a 73-year-old resident of Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, has been secretly sentenced to prison for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhang Shiping was arrested on July 5, 2023, by Zou Wanjin of the Datong District Domestic Security Division and Zhang Chunde of the Zhongxin Police Station in Gaotaizi Town, which is under the jurisdiction of the Datong District and overseen by Daqing.
Before arresting Mr. Zhang, the police arrested his 71-year-old wife Ms. Xia Xianfang. After the local detention center refused to admit her due to her poor health, the police released her and arrested Mr. Zhang. He was held at the Daqing City Detention Center and denied family visits.
In November 2023, the local oilfield where Mr. Zhang retired from informed his family that they would suspend his pension soon. Only then did his family find out that he had been secretly sentenced to 14 months but were not told in which prison.
Mr. Zhang’s family called the mayor’s hotline to get the phone number of the prison administration bureau. After calling the number for two weeks, Mr. Zhang’s daughter finally found out from an official that her father had been transferred to a prison in Harbin City, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, after four months in the detention center. The detention center agreed to return the money left in his commissary account. The official also revealed that Mr. Zhang would soon be transferred to another prison, yet he didn’t allow his family to visit him or make a cash deposit for him to buy daily necessities.
The prison in Harbin informed Mr. Zhang’s family on February 4, 2024, that he had been transferred to Tailai Prison. They went there but were denied visiting rights once again. They were also not allowed to make a cash deposit for him. A prison guard said they would just have to wait for further notice regarding the approval of family visits in the future.
Since the persecution began in 1999, both Mr. Zhang and Ms. Xia have been repeatedly targeted for upholding their faith. Ms. Xia was given one year of forced labor in July 2000. She and her husband were arrested in March 2002 for talking to people about Falun Gong in Ms. Xia’s hometown in Sichuan Province. She was sentenced to six years and Mr. Zhang to four years. Only a year after Ms. Xia was released, she was arrested with Mr. Zhang again on August 5, 2009, also for talking to people about Falun Gong. Ms. Xia was given another five years in prison and Mr. Zhang, four years.
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