(Minghui.org) A 66-year-old man in Dongning City, Heilongjiang Province, is appealing a five-year prison sentence for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Shen Jinxiang was arrested during a police sweep on July 18, 2025. He was first held in the Dongning City Detention Center, then transferred to the Hailin City Detention Center on August 27. He appeared in the Hailin City Court on December 24 and 30, 2025, and was sentenced to a five-year prison term with a 2,000-yuan fine on February 4, 2026. See the related reports about his sentencing.
Prior to his latest sentencing, Mr. Shen served two prison sentences and a forced labor term, totaling 11 years.
One Year of Forced Labor
On July 20, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party officially launched the persecution, Mr. Shen went to the Heilongjiang Provincial government to appeal for the right to practice his faith. The police arrested him three days later, interrogated him at the Dongning City Police Department, and detained him for 15 days.
Mr. Shen was arrested again on March 4, 2000, and taken to the Suiyang Township government. Party secretary Ma Xiangguo smeared Falun Gong and ordered him and other practitioners to each pay him 5,000 yuan, threatening to suspend their business licenses or house deeds if they didn’t pay. Mr. Shen refused to comply and was transferred to the Dongning City Detention Center that evening. One month later, he was taken to the Mudanjiang City Forced Labor Camp to serve a one-year term.
First Prison Sentence of Five Years
After Mr. Shen was released he went into hiding, but was arrested again on June 22, 2001. The police beat him, chained him to a metal chair, suspended him in the air, and shocked him with three electric batons. After he lost conciousness, they poured 37 buckets of cold water on him. Officer Guo Shiyou even put an electric baton in his mouth and threatened to beat him to death. The torture lasted nearly three weeks.
Mr. Shen was sentenced to five years by the Dongning City Court on January 25, 2002. He was transferred to the Mudanjiang City Prison on May 31 of that year. At the new-admits team, an inmate beat him, causing chest pain that lasted for two weeks. They also beat his buttocks with a wooden plank, which made it painful for him to sit down.
Mr. Shen and another 30 Falun Gong practitioners were transferred to the Jixi Prison on July 10, 2002. He was forced to work in a coal mine for 14-20 hours each day. He wasn’t given enough food and was often beaten by the guards. One day in late August, the guards beat him so brutally that he was bleeding from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
The mine collapsed due to a violation of safety protocol on September 20, 2002. A boulder landed on Mr. Shen and broke his right ankle.
In mid-November 2002, the guards ordered Mr. Shen to write statements to renounce and denounce Falun Gong. He refused. The guards didn’t allow him to use a crutch and forced him to stand on his left foot. The guards also instigated inmate Bai Jinbao to beat Mr. Shen every day.
Mr. Shen was taken back to the Mudanjiang City Prison on April 15, 2003.
Division director Liu Minghua ordered Mr. Shen to squat on January 20, 2004. When he refused, Liu beat him about the head and lower back, and shocked him with an electric baton. Mr. Shen’s left leg was injured, making him bedridden for 16 days. The injuries didn’t fully heal until a year later.
He was put on strict management on February 23, 2006.
Another Prison Sentence of Five Years
Mr. Shen was arrested on a bus on January 20, 2008, when the police were searching for an arsonist. The arsonist reported Mr. Shen for being a Falun Gong practitioner, after overhearing his conversation with another passenger. Rather than investigating the arson, the police released the arsonist and changed the case to “someone reported Mr. Shen for distributing Falun Gong materials on the bus.”
Mr. Shen was sentenced to five years in prison by the Suiyang Forestry Court on July 24, 2008. He was admitted to the Mudanjiang City Prison again on October 9, 2008. The guards tortured him again because he refused to renounce his faith.
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