(Minghui.org) A 59-year-old resident of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison with a 10,000-yuan fine on June 20, 2024, for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Luo Changyong took up Falun Gong in 1996 and soon recovered from gastritis, pharyngitis, hemorrhoids, and neurasthenia. He held firm to his faith after the persecution began in 1999 and was repeatedly targeted. Prior to his latest sentence, he was given four years on January 4, 2002 and another five years on July 15, 2010. His employer, the Xindu District Rural Development Bureau Agricultural Technology Center, fired him on September 26, 2012.
Latest Arrest
Mr. Luo was arrested near Daliyuan Food Company at around 11 a.m. on March 15, 2022, by three plainclothes officers from the Banzhuyuan Police Station. They targeted him after suspecting that he put up self-adhesive stickers with the handwritten words, “Sincerely reciting ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ can help you avert danger when disasters strike.”
While it was totally legal to exercise one’s constitutional right to freedom of belief, Mr. Luo did not put up stickers that day as alleged. He knew he had been targeted simply because of his faith in Falun Gong and the fact that he was on the police radar.
Officer Zhou Yujun from the Banzhuyuan Police Station and officer Chen Jinchuan from the Xindu District Police Department raided Mr. Luo’s home the next day. At around 7 p.m. that day, the police released Mr. Luo on bail. The bail notice stated that the bail period began on March 15, 2022 but did not list an end date.
Indicted and Sentenced
Officers Zhou and Chen later submitted Mr. Luo’s case to the Xindu District Procuratorate. Li Hai and three women from the procuratorate summoned Mr. Luo to a public place on the afternoon of February 24, 2023. Also present were a deputy chief from the Banzhuyuan Police Station and two other officers.
Mr. Luo asked why Li had to have the police present at the meeting and Li replied that he was afraid that Mr. Luo might become agitated. After seeing Mr. Luo in person, however, Li said he felt comfortable without police presence. He then asked the three officers to leave.
Li next produced a recommended indictment submitted by officers Zhou and Chen. He asked Mr. Luo to verify if everything in the document was factual.
Mr. Luo noted that Zhou and Chen added one more piece of fabricated evidence in addition to the one accusing him of putting up the self-adhesive stickers. The two officers alleged that Mr. Luo also distributed Falun Gong informational materials at a certain location, which he never did.
Mr. Luo explained to Li that Zhou and Chen wrongfully cited in his bail notice and their recommended indictment Article 300 of the Criminal Law, which stipulates those using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it a cult, hence Article 300 did not apply in his case.
Falun Gong teaches its students to be kind, and he had never become agitated no matter how badly he was treated, Mr. Luo emphasized.
Li did not respond, and simply asked one of his colleagues to record what Mr. Luo said. Around March or April 2023, the procuratorate notified Mr. Luo to come in and sign paperwork to extend his bail period. He refused to comply.
The police and the procuratorate kept harassing Mr. Luo after that and he left home on May 15, 2023 to avoid further harassments, only to be arrested in Chenghua District, Chengdu City, on August 21 of that year. He was taken to the Xindu District Detention Center the next day. The procuratorate twice sent people there to depose him but later returned the case to the Banzhuyuan Police Station citing insufficient evidence.
Mr. Luo’s lawyer filed a request to drop the case, but the procuratorate still indicted Mr. Luo and issued a formal arrest warrant.
The Xindu District Court heard Mr. Luo’s case in early June 2024 and sentenced Mr. Luo to 3.5 years with a 10,000-yuan fine on June 20. He is likely still being held at the Xindu District Detention Center at the time of this writing.
Related Reports:
The True Facts Regarding the Persecution of Dafa Practitioners In Xindu County, Sichuan Province
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