(Minghui.org) A 53-year-old man in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province is set to stand trial in mid-May 2026 for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Kong Gang was arrested on December 9, 2025, and issued a formal arrest warrant by the Xinmin City Procuratorate on January 16, 2026. It is unclear when prosecutor Zhang Yue indicted him. Xinmin is under the administration of Shenyang City.
The Xinmin City Court initially scheduled a court date for May 8, 2026, but later postponed it to mid-May (exact date unknown).
Mr. Kong’s sister and father, 82, traveled to the Xinmin City Court recently to submit applications to represent him as non-lawyer defenders. The court president Ji Xingdong, vice president Lin Shujing, and presiding judge Yang Meng did not allow the father and daughter to make copies of the case file “because Mr. Kong’s lawyer had already made copies.” By law, both lawyers and non-lawyer defenders have the right to photocopy case files.
The judges also rejected the family’s request to meet with Mr. Kong at the Sujiatun District Detention Center because there was “no precedent of non-lawyer defenders meeting with their clients.” They “promised” to have the collegiate bench discuss the request later.
Mr. Kong’s father, who suffers from end-stage heart failure, was dealt a blow by the court’s violation of law and checked into a hospital upon returning home. He had already been hospitalized multiple times since his son’s arrest in December 2025. Despite his frail condition, he worked hard to seek justice for his son. He mailed out an open letter to relevant agencies in February 2026, calling for his son’s release.
Prior to his latest persecution episode, Mr. Kong was given an unknown labor camp term in 2001, and sentenced to three years in prison on May 4, 2016. See the related reports for details of his past persecution and latest arrest.
Once Jailed for 3 Years, Liaoning Man Faces Indictment for His Faith in Falun Gong