(Minghui.org) A Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, resident, was given a four-year prison sentence on April 26, 2024, for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Zhao Jun was arrested on February 14, 2021, while talking to a young man about Falun Gong at a city plaza. Two officers brought him to the Xin’an Police Station. Through facial recognition database, the police chief, Wang Xin, found out about his identity.
The police raided Mr. Zhao’s home and confiscated over 30 Falun Gong books and a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder. Police chief Wang gave Mr. Zhao a 15-day detention, but the local detention center refused to take him due to the COVID-19 outbreak. He was then released on bail.
The police forced Mr. Zhao to have a physical exam in early December 2022 in an attempt to detain him, but he was denied admission again due to high blood pressure. They thus released him on house arrest. Not long after, Mr. Zhao was deposed by a prosecutor, who questioned him whether he admitted guilt in practicing Falun Gong. Mr. Zhao replied that he was innocent. He was released later that day.
Mr. Zhao mailed a letter to prosecutor Zhang Nianhui on March 14, 2023, urging him not to participate in the persecution. Zhang still indicted him in late 2023.
The police made another attempt to detain Mr. Zhao on March 21, 2023. He was again denied admission for high blood pressure.
Mr. Zhao appeared in the Aimin District Court on April 12, 2024. The presiding judge, Jiang Bingbing, constantly interrupted him during his defense argument.
Judge Jiang and a police officer went to Mr. Zhao’s home on April 26 and announced to sentence him to four years with a 10,000-yuan fine. Mr. Zhao refused to sign the verdict when being ordered by Jiang. He told Jiang that he would appeal the sentence and Jiang said he had ten days to do so.
Previous Seven-Year Prison Sentence
This wasn’t the first time that Mr. Zhao had been targeted for his faith. On February 24, 2001, back when he was in his 40s, he was arrested at home by Xie Chunsheng, the chief of Nanshan Police Station, and Miao Qiang, the deputy chief. Not allowing him to change his slippers, the police dragged him to their cruiser and took him to the police station.
That night, Mr. Zhao was subjected to three rounds of the tying torture on his arms and he fainted as a result. To wake him up, the police scraped his ribs with coins and also inserted bamboo sticks into his fingertips. His arms became severely swollen and the nerves around his right armpit were permanently damaged.
Torture reenactment: The tying torture
As Mr. Zhao remained firm in his faith, the police seized his son, Mr. Zhao Dan, who didn’t practice Falun Gong, from school. They handcuffed the teenager to the heating pipes and didn’t allow him to use the restroom. They forced him to provide information about his father’s practicing of Falun Gong by threatening to sentence him to three years. Because of his testimony, his father was sentenced to seven years and not allowed to appeal the verdict.
Mr. Zhao Jun’s sister, Ms. Zhao Guiling, also a practitioner, was tortured by officer Miao as well. She was tied up and force-fed mustard oil. After over ten days of torture, she gave in and admitted guilt in practicing Falun Gong. When she appeared in court over ten months later, the scars on her arms and shoulder from the torture were still visible. It’s not clear whether she was sentenced.
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