(Minghui.org) A 38-year-old man in Julu County, Hebei Province, submitted a motion to the Hebei Province Superior Court after losing an appeal of a five-year prison sentence for practicing Falun Gong.
Mr. Lu, born in September 1987, was arrested on July 17, 2023, and stood trial in the Guangzong County Court on November 1 that year. He was later sentenced to five years after having been given another five-year term by the same court in 2016. While he was serving time, his wife divorced him and was granted sole custody of their son.
Mr. Lu’s parents were kept in the dark about his case status following his latest arrest. They didn’t learn of his wrongful conviction until June 14, 2024, when they received a notification that he had been admitted to prison. His mother, who had a stroke following his first prison sentence, became so distraught that she died around October 2024. Her death dealt another blow to her husband, who had been fighting for their son’s release. The older man died of a brain tumor in 2025. Mr. Lu was not notified of his parents’ deaths, let alone allowed to attend their funerals.
Mr. Lu filed an appeal with the Xingtai City Intermediate Court on February 20, 2025. An appeals judge deposed him at the Julu County Detention Center. He was cuffed behind his back throughout the deposition.
Without holding an open hearing, the judge ruled to uphold Mr. Lu’s original sentence. He hired a Beijing lawyer to submit a motion to the Hebei Province Superior Court. The case has been docketed and is set to be processed in 2026.
In the motion, the Beijing lawyer highlighted the shaky evidence the trial court used to sentence Mr. Lu.
The verdict stated that “the police followed the law to search [Mr. Lu’s] residence.” In fact, the police never produced a search warrant before raiding his home on July 17, 2023. They also did not let him tally the confiscated items or issue him a list of the items as required by law.
Witnesses Lu Tong and Lu Jingxu (no relation to Mr. Lu) were said to be present during the police raid, when neither one was actually there.
The lawyer also stated that Mr. Lu told him that the police pepper-sprayed him before taking him to the Julu County Police Department Case Processing Center on July 17, 2023. Captain Zhao Yun (+86-17692996298) and officer Chen Jianlin interrogated him three times. Mr. Lu remained silent and refused to sign the interrogation records put together by officer Song Shenyu.
The lawyer also included in the motion what Mr. Lu told him what happened during his trial on November 1, 2023. The case file had his father’s phone number, but Judge Wang Mingwei (+86-17703398198) never notified the older man of the trial. Wang asked Mr. Lu if he admitted his guilt. He replied that he broke no law in upholding his faith in Falun Gong and that the Guangzong County Procuratorate failed to investigate the police-supplied evidence. The Falun Gong books and informational materials confiscated from his home belonged to his mother. Even if they were his, it was totally lawful to own such items.
Mr. Lu also reminded judge Wang that the police deceived his illiterate father into signing his arrest warrant without telling him what it was about. Additionally, the police even counted blank copy papers confiscated from his home as evidence against him.
Mr. Lu is currently serving time in the Fifth Branch of Jidong Prison, also known as the Jidong Branch of the Hebei Provincial Prison Administration Bureau. Located in Tangshan City, Jidong Prison has nine branches and Falun Gong practitioners are currently imprisoned in the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Branches.
Related Reports:
How Jidong Prison in Hebei Province Persecutes Male Falun Gong Practitioners
37-year-old Hebei Man Secretly Sentenced to Second Prison Term for Practicing Falun Gong
Once Jailed for Four Years, Hebei Man Faces Indictment for His Faith Again
36-year-old Man on Hunger Strike Following Latest Arrest for Practicing Falun Gong
Two Practitioners from Xingtai City Sentenced to Prison
Two Men from Hebei Province Sentenced to Prison for Their Belief
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