(Minghui.org) A 76-year-old man in Dalian City, Liaoning Province was sentenced to three years around March 2026 for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999. His family was never notified of his indictment or the trial beforehand.

Mr. Dong Xunsheng

Mr. Dong Xunsheng was arrested on March 19, 2025, by Chen Junjiang from the Paoya Police Station and eight plainclothes officers from the Dalian City Domestic Security Office. They claimed that someone had reported him for putting up Falun Gong posters. His Falun Gong books, photo of Falun Gong’s founder, and computer were confiscated. He was taken to the Zhangqian Road Criminal Investigation Center later that day and transferred to the Dalian City Detention Center on March 21 on criminal detention.

During the required physical exam before detention, Mr. Dong was found to have scabies and mitral stenosis (a heart condition). Even though he was unfit for detention, the doctor examining him agreed that he could be detained, saying that his life wouldn’t be in danger as long as he didn’t engage in vigorous exercises.

In early August 2025, Mr. Dong’s family called the Ganjingzi District Procuratorate to inquire about his case. The receptionist told them that the case had been returned to the police due to insufficient evidence. The family went to the Paoya Police Station to demand Mr. Dong’s release. However, Kong Qingzhe, the officer in charge of the case, said that the prosecutor was just too busy to work on the case and that the police were working on it instead. He added that they had 20 days to resubmit the case and that there was no way they could release Mr. Dong. He also refused to accept a letter from the family, which had some basic facts about Falun Gong and the lack of legal basis for the persecution.

On March 5, 2026, the family received a call from the Ganjingzi District Court, saying that Mr. Dong had been sentenced to three years with a 20,000-yuan fine. But the caller refused to provide any details regarding the trial, which the family was never notified of.

Past Persecution

Mr. Dong, born in August 1949, took up Falun Gong in 1996. His many ailments, including congenital mitral stenosis, soon disappeared. But due to the frequent harassment and detentions he suffered since 1999 for upholding his faith, the heart condition recurred.

Mr. Dong was arrested on January 31, 2001, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. He was given a three-year forced labor term. While serving time in the Dalian City Forced Labor Camp, he held a hunger strike to protest. Two of his teeth fell out after the guards pried open his mouth to force-feed him. One day, guards Guo Peng and Qin summoned Mr. Dong to their office. They and several inmates pushed him down, lifted up his clothes, and shocked him with six electric batons.

After Mr. Dong was released, he struggled with severe swelling and had difficulty walking. He was fired from his job and was unable to find another one because he practiced Falun Gong. His family subsisted on his wife’s meager income and financial support from other family members. Their financial situation improved only after he reached retirement age and started to receive a pension.

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