(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Yang Shiyi (杨适怡) of Xiangtan City was illegally sentenced to eight years in prison, from 2003 to 2011. Less than two years after his release, police arrested him again for giving out fliers exposing the persecution of Falun Dafa. He was held in a detention center for 22 months without being charged or indicted.

On October 30, 2014, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in Wangling Prison. His family was not notified of the verdict until a week later.

Prior Arrest

Mr. Yang, in his 60s, formerly worked at a coal company. He traveled to Beijing to petition the central government when the Communist regime began the persecution of Falun Dafa in July 1999. Beijing police arrested him and confiscated 6,000 yuan ($960 USD) in cash. That money was all he had for his family—a paralyzed mother in her 90s and a mentally challenged son.

Mr. Yang was arrested in 2000 for telling the public about the regime's persecution of Falun Dafa. As a result, police sent him to Xinkaipu Forced Labor Camp in Changsha for 18 months. Authorities attempted to brainwash Mr. Yang and forced him to do hard labor. He was beaten many times.

In March 2003, he was sentenced to eight years in Wangling Prison in Zhuzhou for handing out Falun Dafa fliers. He was later transferred to Jinshi Prison in Changde, where he was again subjected to forced labor. Twenty days later, he was sent back to Wangling Prison.

Mr. Yang was released on March 9, 2011. Six months later on September 27, the authorities arrested him at his home and confined him in Wujiahuayuan Brainwashing Center for a month in an attempt to coerce him to renounce his faith.

Officers from the Ningxiang County Police Department arrested Mr. Yang on January 14, 2014 while he was handing out fliers with another practitioner. He was held in Ningxiang Detention Center for almost two years.

During his detention, his mother and son really needed his care. His former wife tried to visit him many times and received threats from police when she asked for his release.

While detained, Mr. Yang was forced to give blood samples. His family feared that the authorities wanted to evaluate whether he was a good candidate for organ harvesting; a 2006 international investigation found evidence of the Communist regime's harvesting of organs from imprisoned Falun Dafa practitioners for profit in transplants.

Related reports:http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2013/6/10/140380.htmlhttp://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2013/4/30/曾遭八年冤狱---湖南湘潭市杨适怡又被劫持三月-272666.html